While you were praying last evening, someone was watching television, while you were seeking the face of the Lord, this individual was looking in the world for something to pass the time. This is the life of the lost, always seeking for something, anything to pass the time until certain tasks must be accomplished. Their employment, the grocery store, kids off to school, the call of the world and its necessities. So, what is different about us, do we not also have to complete all these callings, these daily chores that require our attention?
Everyone of us has a job to do, so to speak, needs that must be fulfilled or to put it bluntly life will cease for us. Food must be sought after, the means to purchase that food, the employment to get the money to buy the food, an endless circle of continuance, exactly what the lost must also do each day. Clothes to wash, dishes to clean, transportation to and from, we all have basic essential needs that are demanded of us every day, so what sets us apart. Is it because we recognize that it is the Lord that provides all these items for us, does He not also do this for all His creation? (Luke 12:24) Does the Lord show special favor for His children when it comes to their needs, does He not provide food for all?
What is it that sets us apart from those in the world when it comes to the things of the world, the basic day to day necessities? The question is simple my friends, does our Lord love His children more than He loves the lost? Are we loved more because we thank Him?
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25) The Word of God is very clear, He provides for His children, those that call upon His name are never forsaken. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19) Every need that the righteous have are provided for by our Lord, but He enjoys it when we ask and give thanks. We are more precious than the animals, (Matt. 6:26) but are we more precious than the lost. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15) Are the children of God given favor over the lost, do we have a closeness that they can only desire to have with the Almighty, does He love us more than them.
John 3:16 is very clear, our Lord died and rose again for everyone, that love cannot be questioned, accept Him or not, we are all loved. We are all created in His image, there is within every human the knowledge of the divine, but not the Holy Spirit, He is reserved for the believer in Christ. “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Ezek. 18:32) Our Lord will not be laughing when He casts the lost into the lake of fire, although we will not be there, I believe there will be great sadness in His heart that day for these He also has created. There is no pleasure is watching as one you love leaves your presence for his own desires, and when this day comes for the lost, there will be no joy for our Lord.
The natural man does not seek after Christ, and yet our Lord provides his needs, he rises every morning to perform the duties that we also must perform yet does not give honor to the one who has enabled him to do so. Why would a loving God take care of those who curse his name, because He loves them, pure and simple. I will not delve here into the doctrine of election, but suffice it to say that our Lord is aware of all that will and will not enter his kingdom, so why give them what they need, and allow them many of the things that they want while they are here on earth. Because it is all they will ever have. Their rewards are here on earth, they will spend eternity separated from the love of Christ, and so for many, He tries to show them His love, but they refuse to see Him as their provider.
Have you ever wondered why the born-again believer must suffer here on earth, (1st Peter 5:10) it is because we will never suffer again, ever. No pain, no sorrow, troubles of every kind will be gone forever, we will know a peace that the lost will never know. Theirs is to suffer eternally. That is not to say that the lost know no trouble here, they experience it just as much as we do, sometimes more. But there is something that we have that they will never know, our suffering is not in vain. We do not suffer out of love, but in it. If our Lord decides it is time for us to experience trouble for a time, then that time we will suffer, and willingly. The lost are loved, they just do not know it or will not admit it, they see suffering as punishment those times that the divine does come into their mind.
Does the Lord God love His children more than He loves the lost? He loves those who love His Son, and he blesses those that bless His name, the lost do not do these things. “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Prov. 8:17) This statement from the Lord is easily discerned, those that love Him He loves. Far too many people mistake punishment with hate. There is nothing that the lost can do that will make God hate them, it is the one thing that they will not do that will earn them the wrath of God, their denial of the Lordship of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus loves everyone, but not everyone loves Him, it is that simple.
Those that are searching in the world are looking in the wrong place for what they need, the one who is and always has been providing for all their needs has been knocking on the door of their heart for a very long time. He knows who will not answer, and who will. He loves both, but one will receive the reward of eternal life, the other eternal death. Love has very little to do with the choices that men make, self is the dominant driving force. We are told to die to self so that we will honor the One who gave us life eternal, and so by honoring Christ, we are loved of the Lord. All are loved, but not all will receive the reward of eternal love.
