“I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.” (Amazing Grace)

Ironically, one of the worst scares of my life occurred at a National Night Out Against Crime. I brought my 4-year-old daughter to the event that showcases all the technology law enforcement uses to fight crime. I had no idea I might have to use it myself. 

My daughter ran straight to the bouncy house to play while I stood by and talked to friends. I watched her, but apparently not close enough. Suddenly I noticed the bouncy house was empty. One minute she was there, the next she wasn’t. I looked around and didn’t see her anywhere.

After a moment of sheer panic, I formulated a plan. I knew the missing child protocol and had the authority to implement it. I prepared to shut the whole city down. No obstacle would stop me from finding my child. I seriously considered the logistics of stopping all traffic and searching every car if I had to. Never was I more determined to find a lost soul. The world was about to see the lengths a desperate father would go to find his child. 

Just as I was about to pull the trigger on my plan, I turned to see my daughter in another bouncy house behind me. She had slipped out of one and into another without my notice. The feeling of relief cannot be overstated. My head spun, however, for the rest of the night.

The entire event still gives me chills. But, it also reminds me of the lengths God our Father went to find His lost children. Not lost, like He doesn’t know our location. Lost means the relationship is severed. When God asked Adam, “Where are you?” He hadn’t misplaced him. God knew sin had separated Him spiritually from His child. The lengths God went to repair that relationship came at a terrible cost.

Sin is the spiritual wedge that severed our relationship with God. Unless our guilt is completely removed, the relationship remains eternally broken. The message of the Gospel is simple. God paid the price to remove our sin. Christ’s death was the cost. We receive pardon through faith in Christ. That’s why there is only one way to God. God does not entertain alternate routes when the true way cost Him so dearly.

Two millennia ago, a jail warden asked the Apostle Paul a life-changing question. “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was simple “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—” It was true then, it is true now. Do this and live forever.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; (John 11:25)