Advent Day 22: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Before we even recognized we were lost, God was enacting his rescue plan.

One time many years ago, I traveled to New Mexico for work. I was staying at a conference center right outside of Santa Fe — and just outside my backdoor was a walking trail into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Wanting to see a little of the countryside, I set off on the trail — by myself, wearing sandals and entirely unprepared for more than a leisurely walk. 

I wasn’t long into my hike that I realized I was in over my head. And it was just a little after that when I realized I wasn’t quite sure where I was in relation to my hotel room. Which way did I need to turn to get back? Was it a left or a right at that tree? Was I even still on the same trail? 

I was lost. I had set out on a path I thought was good, but now I was alone on a trail and I wasn’t sure how to get back to where I was supposed to be. 

Obviously, if you’re reading this, you can assume I followed a trail (not the same one I’d started on) back to the conference center and all was well. But that terror and fear and the realization that my choices had only led me further and further away from the path I needed to follow — I still vividly remember those feelings two decades later. 

We’ve all — literally and figuratively — set out on a path we thought was good, only to later discover we’d hopelessly lost our way. We’ve followed our ideas about what’s important or good, our desires for success or fulfillment and even the promises of others, only to find ourselves even further from our intended goal. 

We’ve all, at some point, come face-to-face with the realization that we’re lost — alone, disoriented, disconnected and terrified. 

There’s a reason, then, that the third and final analogy of salvation we’ll study this Advent season is the idea of lost and found. To become a follower of Christ, we have to understand that we’re lost and cannot find our way home to God on our own. All the things we thought would ultimately fulfill us, give our lives meaning and determine our worth have proven false and useless. 

But the story of hope woven all throughout Scripture is that when were at our most hopeless, God sent his Son — our Savior, our Rescuer, the only one who could redeem us from our sin. When we were hopelessly mired in sin and beginning to understand that our own goodness, strength and righteousness would never lead us to eternity with God, our Father was laying the groundwork to rescue us. 

Before we even knew we were sinners, God was enacting his rescue plan. 

Before the foundation of the world, before creation, before the world knew darkness from light, God knew salvation would come through Jesus, the only righteous Savior. 

When we were still following our own path and seeking our own glory, Jesus was born of a virgin so that he could live a sinless life, die a grueling death and rise from the tomb, defeating sin and death once and for all. 

The most terrifying news of the Bible is that we are aimlessly lost and cannot find our way to God on our own. But the most glorious news of the Bible is that our Light, Jesus, has already come. 

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

He is the Light of the World. 

No one comes to the Father except through him. 

And we who are lost are the ones he came to rescue. He’ll search for us like a lost coin, seek us like a lost sheep and wait patiently for us to recognize our need for him like the lost son. 

As we enter the final week of Advent this year, meditate on the truth that even when you were far from God, he never stopped pursuing you. This Christmas, reflect on the realization that Jesus has come to seek and to save, to transform the lost to found. 

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As we count down the final few days until Christmas, this week’s devotions will look a little different. Instead of long devotional thoughts, we’ll encourage you to read, meditate on and examine several Scripture passages that help you understand the lost/found analogy of salvation and reflect on what God has done to redeem and call us to himself.