GOD ROBBED

Lost

Lost usually means in the sense of being mislaid. In God's estimation, this is a word used of a person who is still possessed but of no value.

Luke 19:2 In the Bible, Zachaeus was such a person, in his outlook on life, in his habits, in his character, was utterly of no value to God in this world. Moreover, he was lost in that sense as to his fellow countrymen.

I have a pocket watch of real value, but if its main-spring is destroyed; then it is lost. It is impossible to tell time by it. It is valueless. That is the sense of the word when Christ said He came to seek and save the lost. This man, named Pure, with a lapse of years had become a tax collector for Rome, which was a perfectly legitimate calling, in spite of objection to it; but in carrying out his work he had employed methods which had destroyed his honesty. He had no vital interest in righteousness, but a great interest in revenue. He was lost, of no value, I repeat, to God, of no value, to man; contributing nothing to the well-being of his fellow countrymen; and so by the calculations of eternity, he was spiritually, morally, lost.

It is important to remind ourselves that when we speak of a lost man or woman, the final emphasis in our thinking should not be on the lost person. But on the One who lost that person. When we speak of a man being lost, do we think most about his suffering, or of the suffering of God? The tragedy of a lost soul in the last analysis is that God is robbed. Talk to any mother who has lost her child in the store. For the moment the boy was lost to the mother. Who suffered most in those moments? There is no doubt that the boy was frightened, but it was the mother, left for a few moments standing there, and unable to do anything, who knew the most of suffering.