Man, Lost
Lostness is like wandering in a wilderness without hope or supply for the soul's needs.
We are lost as the way-farer is lost, because we have gone away from our Father's house, and we are wandering in the wilderness, — in a wilderness where there is no supply for our soul's greatest needs, where we are surrounded with perils, and whence we can of ourselves find no way to return. We are lost, as the great ship is lost; for we have made shipwreck of our best interest, and we drive without helm over the trackless sea of life; and, away from Jesus, we know no haven for which to steer. We are lost, like the guilty child that by reckless sin has broken his father's heart; for evil by nature, and worse by daily temptation and transgressions, we are left to ourselves, lost to holiness, to happiness, to heaven, to God. We have lost our birthright, lost our Father, lost our home, lost our way, lost our hope, lost our time, our souls! And what loss there is in our unimproved and unsanctified powers and faculties! How these souls are lost, in the sense that so little is made of what was meant for so much! — lost as the unfilled field is lost; as the flower which no man sees is lost; as the house built, and then left empty, is lost; as the ship which rots in harbor is lost. Boyd.