Search and Rescue

In this scripture, we see that there are times when Christians, who once walked in the truth of the Word of God, might begin to go to the word of the world and gradually slip into former bad habits. More often than we want to believe, people are enticed by things that aren’t God’s best for them. It’s at these times that we should grab the hand of other Christians and begin to pray for them; more than that, we need to go after them and guide them back to the truth. Many people think if someone is a true Christian, they will never wander from the truth. However, we all may face this situation at some point in our lives because of circumstances we may go through.

We may be tempted to reach out to the things the world has to offer us instead of reaching up to God or out to another believer. I can think of several people in my life I saw at church every week, whom I haven’t seen in months. I often ask others about them and if they know where they’ve been. Sometimes I’ve allowed myself to get too busy to pick up the phone or reach out on social media to let them know they are missed and someone does care and notices their absence.

In Philippians 2:4 (NKJV) it says, Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. When we see a brother or sister in Christ falling, it is our responsibility to reach out to them and support them with the truth of God’s Word and the love of Christ. The Church (the body of believers) should not exist in isolation from each other. We each have unique abilities we should encourage one another and build each other up as we share our lives within the church as well as with non-believers. We must learn to sharpen each other and reach out to those who need spiritual covering. The Lord created us to bear the burdens of one another, teach and serve one another, and even leave the 99 to go after one another! Like the people on that television show, every day we have the opportunity to become heroes because we can seek after and rescue those who are drowning in the storms of life. Let’s reach out and take their hands and lead them safely to the arms of a loving Father. Let’s search for and rescue them like Jesus would, empowered by the love that covers a multitude of sins.