If I Am Out, I Am Lost

 

I once bought a dog tag for my little Chihuahua that was small enough for her collar yet large enough to put my phone number on it in case she ever slipped away from me. The front of the tag said, “If I am out, I am lost.”

I chuckled at the irony and almost bought a tag for myself. I’ve learned that when I wander from my Lord and Master, Jesus, I feel just as lost as my little dog would.

It’s so easy to go astray from our sense of purpose and direction. Through our own poor choices and personal weaknesses, we can wander from our heart’s true home and become vulnerable to the enemy of our souls. Distractions, deception, selfish decisions, and the disturbances of life can pull us farther from the Lord than we ever intended. I’ve had seasons where I didn’t even realize how far I’d wandered until it became all too obvious.

But glory be to God—Jesus knows how to bring us home! He knows the way that we take. (Job 23:10). How grateful I am that Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10, KJV).

We can trust Jesus to come and get us wherever we are, whatever condition we’re in, when we cry out to Him. It’s as if all believers in Christ wear an invisible tag that says, “Save me, Jesus. I am Yours.” As Psalm 119:94 says, “I am thine, save me.”

And what about those who don’t yet know Jesus? According to Luke 19:10, He seeks them as well. He doesn’t want any to perish, but all to come to know Him as Savior and Lord (2 Peter 3:9).

How comforting it is to know that when we wander, Jesus knows where we are. When we are lost, He knows the way home. And when we call out to Him, we can trust Him to come for us.

Maybe we all need an invisible dog tag—not one that tells others who to call if we wander away, but one that reminds us whose we are:

“I am Yours, Jesus. Save me.”