Check out all the previous Pray for ONE readings here.
Pray for ONE Reading Plan | Week 1 | Day 5
Prayer
As you come to spend time with Jesus, calm your mind and body until you feel fully present. Thank Jesus that he came to save you!
Bible Reading: Luke 19:10
Read these verses three times slowly.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Reflection & Questions
It’s a short but incredibly profound verse in our reading today. Jesus is talking about himself. And he describes three incredible actions he took. He came down. Jesus didn’t just stay in heaven, he jumped out of his comfort zone, his heavenly throne, and took on flesh to be with us. He sought out. Jesus didn’t come and expect us to find Him, but He sought us out. Like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, Jesus loved us so much that He came to find us. And thirdly, He saved. He didn’t come for those who “have it all together.” He didn’t come to find the righteous (for they don’t exist). He came to save the lost; the broken sinners like you and me. Jesus didn’t leave us to our own devices. He didn’t expect us to clean up their act. He became the seeker. He came to find those who would receive him. He took responsibility for our sin and died on our behalf.
As we look to reach our ONEs, there’s a model here in these three words. We don’t expect our ONEs to enter our world, we enter theirs. We show interest in them. We don’t expect our ONEs to seek us out, we seek them. We think of ways to reach them. We pray for them. And we don’t expect our ONEs to get their act together, we ask Jesus to save them just as they are! Just as Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost”, so do we!
(P.S. You may wonder about why Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man.” This is a title that is used of the Messiah in the Old Testament and is a way to refer to Himself as the Messiah in a subtle but clear way for those who are seeking.)
- How can you enter the world of your ONE? Are you expecting your ONE to seek you out or are you going to them?
- Do you let the wrong choices of your ONE put you off, or do they motivate you to pray more for them that they would be saved?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to the reading today.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
