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I will seek the lost. Ezekiel 34:16
D.L. MOODY
I do not believe there is a man that the Spirit of God has not striven with at some period of his life. Every man who has ever been saved through these six thousand years was sought after by God. No sooner did Adam fall than God sought him. He had gone away frightened, and hid himself away among the bushes in the garden, but God sought him; and from that day to this, God has always taken the initiative to seek the lost.
ERWIN LUTZER
We’ve all heard a testimony where someone says, “I found Christ as my Savior.” We understand what they mean, but we don’t actually find Christ until Christ has found us. Paul says in Romans 3, “No one seeks for God” (3:11). As Moody said, the best imagery of human nature is Adam and Eve in the Garden. They were not looking for God. They were hiding themselves in the trees of the garden trying to get away from Him. They were seeking ways to run from a holy God to whom they had to give an account. It is God who finds them and initiates the plan of salvation.
Christ came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). As far as I know, sheep never go seeking a shepherd. The shepherd has to find the sheep. If you are saved today, it’s because the Good Shepherd came looking for you and drew your heart toward Him. We can only contemplate the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, we cannot understand it fully. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).
Perhaps a more God-honoring way to give a testimony would be to say, “God found me.” Meanwhile, we urge people to believe, but we do so in total dependence on God who sent Christ to seek and to save the lost.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for seeking me even when I was not seeking you. I rejoice that you found me!REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How does the concept of no one seeking God affect our understanding of evangelism?How does this mean for our understanding of assurance?