There do seem to be moments in time when I have been more alive than other times. Visiting with a young family and the wife does not know Christ but wants to know Him. Seeing and hearing her pray to receive Christ as her Savior, I was definitely alive. Being on top of a little mountain at pre-teen camp with a group of campers. Each one shared when they had been saved. But one had not come to know Jesus as their Savior but wanted to be saved. I was alive leading her to Christ. Receiving a letter from a prison inmate thanking me because he had prayed to receive Christ and how much it meant to him. I was alive with joy.
    Jesus came that we might have life. He says in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." The bringing of life was not automatic. Jesus was on a mission to seek out and bring life to this world. We as His modern day disciples should have the same mission. Indeed we have a command to do so in Matthew 28:18-20. It is the Great Order from the High Commander. The more obedient we are to that command the more life we will have. The more we join with Jesus in the seeking and the saving of the lost, the more life we will have.
    Want Life? Want the abundant life? Jesus says, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few" (Matthew 9:37). Let us join Him in reaping the harvest and gain the abundant life.

    We searched through the rubble of our home that had burned to the ground in a California firestorm, hoping to find some jewelry I had inherited from my family. Several friends - equipped with colanders, sieves, and pieces of screen - helped to sift through the powdery gray ash. We painstakingly scooped the dusty remains spoonful by spoonful, searching for a precious stone or scrap of gold that might have survived the inferno. We combed and sorted, touched and examined bits of twisted metal and small pebbles.
    When I reflect on how diligently we turned over broken pieces of pottery and investigated each bit of metal or tiny stone. I am reminded of how God lovingly seeks and searched for us, considering each of us a precious treasure. Often God sends others to pray for us or minister to us, to help draw us close.
    I find great joy in knowing that God pursues each of us - and even greater joy as I respond to the invitation to follow Christ.