Let us read Luke 19:10.

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

When a sheep is with its shepherd, it has no need to search for him. But when a sheep is lost, it seeks the shepherd. It is much like the healthy, who do not seek a physician, while the sick do.

When the younger son who took his father’s inheritance was still living with his father, he had no reason to seek him. But after he went into a far country, wasted everything he had in reckless living, and began to starve, he finally remembered and longed for his father’s house.

In the same way that a lost sheep seeks its shepherd and the younger son longed for his father, those who seek God are those who have come to realize that they are lost and need Him.

Jesus Seeks the Lost

Jesus came into this world seeking the lost because the lost need a Saviour. When we look at the people Jesus met and showed grace to in Scripture, we find that many of them were desperately in need of someone to save them.

The Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well was such a person. When she recognized Jesus as a prophet, she said to Him:

“I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” (John 4:25)

Jesus did not simply see a woman who was living with a man who was not her husband after having had five husbands. To other people, she may have appeared to be a woman with many problems, but Jesus looked beyond her outward circumstances and saw a heart waiting for the Messiah.

As Scripture says:

“For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Jesus looked upon her heart.

The man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years, whom Jesus met at the pool of Bethesda, was another such person. When Jesus asked him:

“Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:6)

he answered:

“Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” (John 5:7)

Whenever the water at the pool of Bethesda was troubled, the man had tried to reach the pool before anyone else. But contrary to his hopes, someone else always entered before him.

As this happened again and again, he came to experience the despair of realizing, “I cannot do this by my own strength.” Eventually, he came to understand that he needed someone to help him—someone to save him from the helpless condition in which he found himself.

Jesus saw such a heart.

Zacchaeus was also such a person. The fact that he climbed into a sycamore tree because he wanted to see who Jesus was reveals something about his heart.

As a chief publican, climbing a tree in full view of the crowd would hardly have been a dignified thing to do. Yet he was willing to disregard what others might think because he desperately wanted to see Jesus.

Perhaps his desire to see Jesus was more than simple curiosity. There was a thirst in his heart that nothing in this world had been able to satisfy. Jesus did not pass him by. He personally called Zacchaeus by name.

Ye Shall Seek Me, and Find Me

The same is true of how we come to receive the grace of God.

We begin to seek God for many different reasons. Some seek Him because they have discovered their own weakness and wickedness and find themselves unable to overcome sin. Others seek Him because of sickness, suffering, or problems that they know they can never solve by their own strength.

Scripture tells us of many people who received grace when they sought Jesus.

There was the woman who had suffered from an issue of blood for twelve years. There was the Syrophenician woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit. There was also blind Bartimaeus, the beggar who cried out to Jesus.

Therefore Jeremiah 29:13 says:

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

The Pharisees and scribes in the days of Jesus did not receive His grace because they did not earnestly seek Him. Instead, they sought the praise and glory of men.

Even today, many people do not come to Jesus because their hearts desire and seek other things rather than Him.

God Calls Us First

There is, however, one more thing we must consider.

Before we ever began to seek God, God first called us.

Isaiah 65:2 says:

“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.” (Isaiah 65:2)

In truth, everyone needs the grace of God. In that sense, all people are lost. The problem is that many do not realize that they are lost.

A person deceived by the devil may believe that he has no need of God’s help. He thinks he can live perfectly well without God.

But the poor in spirit are different.

They know that they desperately need God. And it is such a heart that hears the voice of God calling.

“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)