That Nothing Be Lost

Message by Darrell Pickle

John 6:12 “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”

Nothing material can ever be lost. It’s only changed. We may burn something but it lives on through its make up in another form. Trees are killed but made into pews and other wood products. The body will die but the elements of the earth will be brought together. Even in the story of the loaves and fishes nothing was lost. However there are some things a Christian can lose.

We can lose our family.  If we’re not dedicated and faithful to the Lord-if the family doesn’t see it-then the family won’t believe it.  Lot’s wife and family were like this. Lot sat at the gates of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a judge. He raised his daughters there. They married men of the city. Yet the Bible says Lot’s soul was vexed daily. He was right with God but miserable.

The city was so wicked that God sent two angels to get Lot out before it was destroyed. The men of the city were so vile that they tried to force themselves into Lot’s house so they could have relations with the men. The angels struck them blind and got Lot and his family out of the city. The sons-in-law stayed behind; they didn’t believe judgment was coming. Lot told his family not to look back, but the pull was so great on his wife that she did and God turned her into a pillar of salt. He lost his wife. Later we see Lot and his daughters in a cave. At the thought of no children to carry on the family name, they got their father drunk and both conceived. This is testimony of a family who didn’t believe.

If we say we love the Lord and run after pleasures and are in and out of church, we’ll lose our family.  When we try to get them to go to church, they’ll say “why didn’t you?” It will be a matter of we should have practiced what we preached.

We can lose our faith. Faith grows by activity. The basis of faith is the Bible, not our own experiences. His word will never pass away. Thomas lost his faith. He was willing to go die with the Lord when he heard that Lazarus was dead. Somewhere along the line he lost it. Thomas was not at the first church service after the resurrection.  Jesus was in the midst of them. Look what he missed. When told they had seen the Lord, Thomas didn’t believe it. He wanted to see the nail prints and the side that was pierced by the spear. Later Jesus showed it to him. He exclaimed “My Lord and my God.” He wouldn’t believe without seeing. Jesus told him that those who believe and have not seen are blessed. Is your faith getting weak? You’d better do something about it. We should read and pray everyday and come to church as often as we can. The time will come when we need our faith. Take care of it.

We can lose our joy.  Joy and happiness are not the same. Happiness depends on what happens. Joy is the flag over the soul that says the King is in residence. The joy is in knowing the Lord God through the Holy Spirit.  When we depend on happiness our joy will go sour. Happiness will shoot you. David was a man after God’s own heart. After his sin, he prayed in Psalm 51 and prayed “restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”  Sin is a robber of joy. Rebellion is a robber of joy. The road to losing joy will lead us to the road to losing our faith.  All we have to do to get back our joy is repent and trust the Lord. Joy is the fuel that will help us deal with life; it is the oil of gladness.

We can lose our testimony.  When we lose our testimony nobody believes what we say. The salt has lost its savor. It’s good for nothing.  Salt is our testimony. When we lose it, the only thing it’s good for is to be thrown out on the road-trodden under foot.

Peter lost his testimony. We know this because he followed afar off. He stood and warmed himself with the enemies of Christ. He cursed and denied the Lord. His joy was gone. He did not get it back until the Spirit of God filled him on the day of Pentecost. He lost his salt but after this he was a changed man and a testimony to others.

Many have lost their salt. Some whole churches have. Here’s a story. There was a salt shaker in a lovely crystal container. The light shined so brightly in it. One little grain of salt that knew it was to go to the pot of soup. The others called him crazy. They begged not to go into the soup. They were fine where they were. The little grain told them flavoring soup was their job.  They refused to do it and stayed in their little container of salt.  As a church we don’t season the soup inside these walls. The pot is outside. It’s in the world. Let’s dissolve ourselves in the pot of soup.

Let nothing be lost.