January
23, 2003
TO
SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST
"For
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was
lost" (Luke 19:10, NKJV).
"The
Saviour is still carrying forward the same work as when He
proffered the water of life to the woman of Samaria. Those
who call themselves His followers may despise and shun the
outcast ones; but no circumstance of birth or nationality,
no condition of life, can turn away His love from the children
of men. To every soul, however sinful, Jesus says, If -- 'you
would have asked Him, - He would have given you living water'
(John 4:10)...
"Wherever
hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct
them. He reveals to them the Father, and the worship acceptable
to Him who reads the heart. For such He uses no parables.
To them, as to the woman at the well, He says, 'I
who speak to you am He' (John 4:26).
"When
Jesus sat down to rest at Jacob's well, He had come from Judea
where His ministry had produced little fruit. He had been
rejected by the priests and rabbis, and even the people who
professed to be His disciples had failed of perceiving His
divine character. He was faint and weary; yet He did not neglect
the opportunity of speaking to one woman, though she was a
stranger, an alien from Israel, and living in open sin.
"The
Saviour did not wait for congregations to assemble. Often
He began His lessons with only a few gathered about Him, but
one by one the passersby paused to listen, until a multitude
heard with wonder and awe the words of God through the heaven-sent
Teacher... It seemed a small matter, even to His disciples,
for the Saviour to spend His time upon a woman of Samaria.
But He reasoned more earnestly and eloquently with her than
with kings, councilors, or high priests. The lessons He gave
to that woman have been repeated to the earth's remotest bounds.
"As
soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought
others to Him. She proved herself a more effective missionary
than His own disciples. The disciples saw nothing in Samaria
to indicate that it was an encouraging field. Their thoughts
were fixed upon a great work to be done in the future. They
did not see that right around them was a harvest to be gathered.
But through the woman whom they despised, a whole cityful
were brought to hear the Saviour, She carried the light at
once to her countrymen.
"This
woman represents the working of a practical faith in Christ.
Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary.
He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life.
The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the soul
is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all,
and making those who are ready to perish eager to drink of
the water of life."-- The Desire of Ages,
pp. 194, 195.
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