For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. Luke 19:10, NASB

Dick Proenekke was the hero to every boy and most men because he did what most only dreamed of. He left everything behind, bought some land in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness and built a cabin with nothing but hand tools. Then he proceeded to live in this wild country for thirty years until his body said it was time to quit when he was about 82 years of age. It wasn't that Mr. Proenekke didn't like people, he just enjoyed the company of animals and being away from the daily grind of the city so much better. He once said that because he was alone that he had to be very careful, because if he made a mistake he would likely die because there was no one around to help. 

Now I could relate, for this was the life that I fancied myself living when I was a boy. For a number of years, we lived on the edge of some woods that was my "Dick Proenekke" wilderness. I would climb tall trees and hike deep into the woods just to see what was there. I can remember more than one occasion when I had easily climbed some Everest of a tree, only to find that the way down was not as easy. It turns out that the branches you are grasping with your hands on the way up are a lot easier to see than those same branches your feet are blindly searching out on the way down. And though I had never heard of old Mr. Proenekke at the time, I understood all too well what he meant about being careful, since one mistake could leave me in a veritable "death plunge" to the ground that was usually several stories below.

I remember getting lost one time as I was wandering through that patch of woods. My best friend Steven Price and I had discovered where a "blow down" or some other event had scattered fallen trees in a jumbled-up mess. We found one large tree precariously balanced atop another and had turned it into a makeshift seesaw. We quickly developed a big plan of turning the whole area into a type of wilderness amusement park. I have no doubt that charging admission was at the heart of this dream, for the two of us were always conjuring up ways that we could make money.

Anyway, I digress, for it was the time I got lost in the woods that I wanted to tell you about. Steven wasn't around, so I set out that day on my own to find our future theme park. I had only been there once, and we had found it quite by accident at that, so it took me a bit to find it. The problem was that I had meandered about so much in my search that I didn't pay attention as to how I got there. Now of course that didn't matter much since I was already there, but I really was clueless as to how to get back. And when I started back, I guess I got turned around and ended up in an entirely unfamiliar area. After a while, I realized that I was lost!

Have you ever been lost? I don't mean the kind of lost where you are in a stupid car with you family in Saint Louis and can't find that stupid bridge that's supposed to take you across the stupid Mississippi River (as a random example). I mean being on your own in the deep dark woods and realizing that no one even knows that you are there so that they can be looking for you lost. Of course I would have never admitted it to anyone else, for real men (even eight-year-old men) do not get lost. The great woodsman Daniel Boone put it best when he was asked if he had ever been lost. He thought about it for a long moment before replying, "I was never lost... but I was bewildered once for three days". 

Now, I would like to say that my being lost was but the beginning of an epic tale of harrowing danger and death-defying escapes, but the truth of the matter is that I wandered around long enough to finally come to a path in those woods that I recognized. I was so glad when I got home that I forgot all about my dream of fortune, and Steven and I gave up our plans of developing that Disneyland in the woods. 

Now to the point of all this. I have noticed that my life has been filled with far too many occasions that I was just aimlessly wandering around, not getting much accomplished. There have even been times when I have strayed too far from God. At such times, I did not feel particularly lost, but I have to admit that I have been bewildered a time or two. I think that's the problem with many of us - at least at times. We get distracted and our life just doesn't seem to be working out. We get far off the path that we should be on, and we begin to run into dangers and hazards that make our lives very, very uncomfortable. After a while, our confidence of knowing what we are doing and where we are going begins to fade, and we become confused and angry and depressed.

And while we don't feel particularly lost, these feelings that we have are very bewildering. So, we just continue to wander about, getting more and more frantic, searching for something that we cannot find. Eventually, if we are fortunate, we will finally admit what we are feeling: We are lost! But what can we do? This is where the beauty of God's eternal plan comes into play for, as we read in the passage above, Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost! This is the ultimate "good news" of the Gospel, for this means that we do not have to continue in our confused and angry and depressed state any longer.

Part of the good news is that when we are lost, we are not ever really alone, for God and Christ are always present if we will just open our eyes long enough to see it. The reason that we read the Word of God is so that we can find that narrow path that we have strayed from. And though that path of life is indeed narrow, it is also safe and secure, and it leads us home! And I can tell you from sweet experience, there is no place like a familiar path when you have been lost and far from a home that you weren't sure you would ever see again. 

Have you ever been bewildered? Maybe it's time to call for help. For God is always willing to guide you back to that narrow way that leads to life, and Jesus has come for the express purpose of seeking and saving the lost. Why not let Him find you?