A prayer to prepare by Meg Bucker, read by Leah Martin.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the Lost,

Luke 1910.

Jesus came to earth to live, die, and be resurrected to defeat death and cancel the dead of sin.

He comes to us daily as we embrace our salvation in him and the endwelling of the

Holy Spirit. But we also look forward to his second coming. Jesus Christ will return again. Only the

father knows the time, but the promise of his coming is as trustworthy as God's promise to send a Messiah.

Luke recorded Jesus' words to Zucaeus, a tax collector who Jesus chose to visit.

Tax collectors had a horrible reputation, and rightly so, for skimming money off the top of their overcharged tax collections.

Zakaius was a rich man and one typically unworthy of a visit from the Messiah Christ.

But Zakius was exactly the type of soul Jesus came to speak life into.

Jesus told him,

The son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Each advent, we prepare and refocus our hearts on what matters most.

God delights in our efforts to commune with him, but Jesus didn't leave the comforts

of home in heaven to come and seek the spiritually motivated. He came to seek the lost.

As this year comes to a close and we resolve to improve upon our lives in the next year,

remember the daily privilege we have as children of God.

Follow him swiftly, listen for him, intently, and seek him enthusiastically.

enthusiastically.

Every day we wake to breathe.

Our entire lives, our every day, is purposed. We were lost when Jesus found us and he covered us with

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