Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s discover God’s perspective of lost and found.

In today’s scripture, Luke 15:8-10 (NLT) Jesus taught…
[8] “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? [9] And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ [10] In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Consider…
Many businesses and public facilities have a designated area that is a temporary shelter for lost items. The expectation is the owner will find their way to this area and reclaim the lost items. Yet, the reality is that many of those lost items become permanent residents in the lost and found group home.

In today’s scripture, Jesus used a parable about a lost coin to illustrate how much God values and rejoices over a lost sinner who has been found. Let’s unpack what Jesus said.

First, Jesus pointed out the equal value of every person to God, when He said…
suppose a woman has ten silver coins

The Holy Spirit is flashing John 3:16-17 (NLT) as proof of God’s equilateral love. Here Jesus said…
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

The Holy Spirit made me slow down and read through these verses carefully. What I noticed is God gave Jesus because He loved the whole world! That means God loved EVERYONE!

As a matter of fact, Jesus emphasized God’s unbiased love by stipulating that EVERYONE who believes will be saved! In John 3:17, Jesus triples down on this unfiltered love of God, by pointing out that He was sent to save, not judge, EVERYONE!

As I transcribe this reckless unconditional love of God, I can hear Cory Asbury singing…

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

Regardless of how unlovable you may think yourself and others are, God says I love you this much, and He shows the image of Jesus’ outstretched hands and broken and bloodied body on the cross!

The next thing today’s scripture reveals is, something very valuable to the owner was lost. I glean that from the Jesus saying…
Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?

If you have ever lost your keys, you can appreciate the importance and resolve of this lady finding this coin. Simply put, she wasn’t going anywhere until she found this prescious lost coin.

This makes me think of 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT), which explains…
[9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Like us with our keys and the lady with her coin, God is saying, He ain’t going nowhere until every lost sinner has been given a chance to be found.

The Holy Spirit reminded me that in addition to God waiting patiently for us to be found, He sent the LIGHT into the world to help us find the way out of darkness.

Jesus said in John 12:46-47 (NLT)…
[46] I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. [47] I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.

Reading Jesus’ words remind me of 1 Peter 2:9-10 ERV
[9] But you are his chosen people, the King’s priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light. [10] In the past you were not a special people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now God has given you his mercy.

Thank You Holy Spirit for giving us such a direct parallel of the woman lighting her lamp to find a lost coin, and the Heavenly Father LIGHTING the world to find a lost soul! 🤯

Finally, the Holy Spirit is showing us the overwhelming joy of finding lost treasures. Remember, we have already established…

• Everyone is prescious to God
• God sent the LIGHT into the world to find those who are lost

Jesus ended today’s parable talking about throwing a party for what was lost being found. This reminds me of the end of the parable of the prodigal son. Luke 15:22-24 (NLT) records Jesus saying…
[22] “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. [23] And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, [24] for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Wait a minute, I just found something that I had not noticed about this parable before. The father didn’t find the son, yet he declared his son found!

I remember Tim Ross saying God looks for the lost, but waits for those who left to return. Still, scripture says the father declared his son found.

Here’s the new insight, the father never stopped looking for his son, he just stayed where his son could find him. God never stops looking for us, He stays in the same place so we can find Him.

Let me make it more plain. Sometimes, frantically searching for someone who’s lost will make it more difficult to find them, because both of you are moving in opposite directions. However, if one of you stands still, the odds of the person lost being found goes up exponentially.

The Holy Spirit is showing me, the father didn’t go looking for his son because he knew that if his baby boy got lost, he would eventually find his way home.

In the same way, God knows that if Jesus is simply lifted up as the LIGHTPOST to Heaven, all of His lost sheep will find their way home.

Therefore, today make sure you let Jesus Christ the Light of the world shine brightly to help others find their way to the Father who is patiently waiting for them to be found.

Hopefully today’s post helped you find out something new about being lost and found.

Today’s Song is…
Lost And Found

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)