Our Daily Bread: The Hope of Christmas Smakprov

Reclaiming The Lost. A few years ago, a friend of mine lost track of her young son while walking through a swarm of people at Union Station in Chicago. Needless to say, it was a terrifying experience. Frantically, she yelled his name and ran back up the escalator, retracing her steps in an effort to find her little boy. The minutes of separation seemed like hours, until, suddenly—thankfully—her son emerged from the crowd and ran to the safety of her arms. Thinking of my friend who would have given anything to find her child fills me with a renewed sense of gratitude that God did everything in His power to seek and save us. From the time God’s first image bearers—Adam and Eve—wandered off in sin, He lamented the loss of fellowship with His people. He did everything in His power to restore the relationship, ultimately sending His one and only Son “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Without the birth of Jesus, and without His willingness to die to pay the price for our sin and to reunite lost souls to God, we would have nothing to celebrate at Christmastime. So, this Christmas, let’s be thankful that God took extreme measures by sending Jesus to reclaim our fellowship with Him. Although we once were lost, because of Jesus we have been found!  —Joe Stowell Christmas is about God taking extreme measures to reclaim the lost.