The Lost Heart Of Christ
LENT DEVOTIONAL 2026 | DAY 27
Luke 15:1–32 (NIV)
By Daryl Tay, Pastoral Team Member, BeTween Ministry
READ:
Luke 15:1–32 (NIV)
Luke presents three stories of lostness that Jesus tells in response to the Pharisees and teachers who grumble, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Their issue with Jesus is twofold: they expect a teacher of Jesus’ standing to condemn rather than welcome sinners, and to keep a distance from sinners rather than share table fellowship. Across the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and sons run a shared arc: someone or something is lost, a determined seeker (shepherd, woman, waiting father) takes the initiative, and a joyful finding or return turns the whole situation into celebration. At the same time, there is a clear escalation—from 1 in 100 sheep, to 1 in 10 coins, to both sons—intensifying the cost and preciousness of each lost one. These narrative details lead me to marvel at the Christ-heart and the mystery of God’s grace: Christ’s heart actively pursues the lost, Christ’s heart does not conform to our worldly cost–benefit logic but treats just one wandering soul as of immeasurable worth, and Christ’s heart knows immense, uncontainable joy when even one person comes home to God.
In contrast to Christ’s heart, I am led to examine my own. Have I lost that precious heart that stands in awe of His grace and beats in rhythm with His? The grumbling Pharisees, reflected in the elder brother, can mirror how easily hearts become bored, cynical, or even resentful of grace instead of thrilled by it. I think of moments when I find myself asking, “Is this person’s repentance real? Is it fair that so much divine resource is poured into this one person?” and I wonder if apathy and cynicism have dulled my joy over salvation. Repeated mission trips and ministry routines can sometimes reduce lost people to statistics instead of stories of lives transformed by the Redeemer’s grace. I ask whether answered prayers for salvation still move me to tears, and whether the Lord might rekindle in my heart a holy awe for His saving grace pictured in these three parables.
No amount of “doing” can manufacture this Christ-heart in my own strength. Instead, perhaps the way forward is to lean into God’s covenant promises in Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26, where God pledges to write His law on hearts and to replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. As I journey through the Lent season, I find myself longing for God to reform my heart—to weed out cynicism and self-righteousness, and to renew my inner life so that it beats more like Christ’s, rejoicing with heaven over every lost one who is found.
Dear Lord Jesus,
You who welcome sinners and eat with them,
thank You for the mystery of Your grace.
Father, my heart is often so unlike Yours.
Where You rejoice, I grumble;
where You celebrate, I hold back in suspicion.
Forgive me for the times I have lost Your heart for the lost.
Renew in me a holy awe at Your saving grace.
Write Your law on my heart;
remove my heart of stone
and give me a heart of flesh
that beats with Your compassion and joy
over every sinner who comes home.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
[ Reflection Questions ]
- Who are the ‘lost’ in your family or workplace who have yet to know or hear of Jesus? This Lent, will you go and share the Love of Jesus with them.
- How may you be a man or woman after God’s Heart? Pray and ask God to give you a heart of flesh and write His law on your heart.
- What is the one thing you can do to be a missional disciple of Jesus, wherever God may place you?
