SEARCHING one night in the slums of London, a devoted servant of God found a homeless boy asleep in an old tub.
It was the best shelter the boy could find, and he had hoped to escape the keen eye of the police.
As the light of the lantern fell upon him, he awoke with a cry,
“All right, sir, I’ll move on.” To his surprise, however, a kindly voice said,
“Don’t be afraid, my lad; but why are you here,”
“Nobody wants me, sir,” was the reply.
“I want you, my boy; come with me and I will care for you,” said the gentleman.
Soon that little waif found himself fed, clothed and sheltered, learning that love had sought him because it wanted him.
The gospel message today is that
GOD WANTS YOU.
From the height of heavenly glory God sent His only begotten Son because He wanted you to be brought home to Him. When Jesus was here He said, “The Father seeketh.” He told the secret of the heart of God as thus described in the return of the prodigal; “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
JESUS WANTS YOU
He is the good Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep. He went after the lost sheep “until He found it.” How greatly He wanted it.
“But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through,
Ere He found the sheep that was lost.”
He said, when down here, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me,” and He says the same today.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS YOU.
God’s word says, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” But He is here today, and is active in the hearts of men that they may be brought to Christ. As the woman in the parable, who having lost one piece of silver, swept the house and sought diligently till she found it (Luke 15), so the Holy spirit of God is moving in grace that you may be blessed.
GOD’S PEOPLE WANT YOU.
You little know their prayerful interest in you. How they long that you may be brought to trust and confess the Lord Jesus as your own personal Saviour! They want you to be one of their companions, to stand with them in faithfulness to Christ, and to wait with them for His coming again.
But, alas, it is also true that
THE WORLD WANTS YOU.
It invites you to its pleasures, and would give you a place of honor, that you might add to its greatness and its glory. Remember, however, that “whosoever ... will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” The apostle John warned the young men to “love not the world.”
The joy of knowing the Lord Jesus (who is the Glory of God’s world,) is greater than any joy this doomed world can give you.
“This world has nothing new to give, It has no new, no pure delight.”
Then, too, there are the activities of the great enemy, for
SATAN WANTS YOU.
As a roaring lion he is “seeking whom he may devour.” He cannot destroy one of the sheep or lambs of the good Shepherd, for Jesus said, “My sheep shall never perish.” But Satan would spoil their lives, and rob them of their joy and power to speak for Christ.
May you be “kept by the power of God,” and learn that you are “wanted” for God’s pleasure, and for your present and eternal blessing.
ML 03/23/1924