Available and Accessible
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So, he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
-Luke 15: 1-7
Jesus, is the Good Shepherd, we (Christians) are His sheep (John 10:11-18). It’s important to define this relationship. When this covenant relationship is defined, it is then that we are discovered. It is my relationship with Jesus, and my life found exclusively in Him, through salvation, that gives me freedom and fathering. Without Jesus, I am an orphan, and unrealized. Without Jesus I am lost and lawless.
Over the next 4 posts, I will be breaking down 4 revelations from the passage of the lost sheep found in Luke’s Gospel account. These 4 revelations, prayerfully, will bless you and build you up in the faith. If you are lost and not found in Christ, I pray these truths directed towards children of God will find you where you are and bring you to a place of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Question. Are you available to the sinner? Can the sinner sit with you? Better questions, ARE THEY SITTING with you? Luke tells us that the Pharisees developed a perception of Jesus “Receiving” sinners and eating with them. Not only was He available to them, but He was accessible to them at the very table He ate from.
Jesus, being our Shepherd, our God, our Messiah, has modeled His expectations and the life of His followers. One of these qualities that Jesus birthed in you when you were born again, was that to receive sinners. To be available to the sinner, is to be available to God.
Notice that it says Jesus received as they came to Him. Jesus did not have to stoop down to the level of indulging in sin to reach the sinner. He simply sat with them, despite their sin, in hopes of freeing them from sin while He remained sinless. The call is the same for us as His sheep. We do not indulge in sin and compromise our faith in hopes to attract the lost. We live in Christ and find ourselves free in Him.
Jesus’ life attracted sinners to His life. Does ours? If not, become available to Holy Spirit. He has a fantastic way of drawing sinners to Jesus. I’m sure He will be able to direct a few your way.
“Easter Sunday” is a few days away. Who has the Lord brought in your life, that you need to bring into a House of God this Sunday? Their eternity depends on. Be available and accessible, just as Jesus was. You can do this! After all, He lives in you. Great is He who is in you, then he who is in the world (1 John4:4). You were freed to do every good work, free yourself up to do so (Philemon 1:6).
God bless.
Nate Staton 