My dad is a coin collector. I have vivid memories from my childhood of sitting in front of a huge pile of pennies on the kitchen table with my dad and spending hours picking up each penny one at a time to examine it's date, mint mark, and condition. We would do the same with nickels, dimes, and quarters all for the purpose of finding the one coin that would fill the empty slot in his coin book.

For the most part, all of the pennies were worth the same - one cent. The same was true for each different denomination of coin we examined. I remember asking him repeatedly when we would find the missing coin, "Dad, we found it! How much is this penny worth?"

He would respond matter-of-factly, "It's worth about a penny son."

We'd find the one 1954 D Washington quarter that would fill that one spot in the book designated for just that coin and I'd ask again, "How much is this one worth?"

"Oh, I'd say about twenty-five cents," would be his reply that eventually caused me to wonder why in the world we were doing all of this if none of the coins was significantly more valuable than the others.

This whole process went on for many years as I grew up. My dad still has those coin books. The penny book is full. The nickel book is full, as is the dime book and the quarter book. Just within the past couple of years he has filled the final empty slots. And if I were to ask him today how much the full quarter book is worth he would tell me the value and it would be much higher than the face-value sum of all of the coins. Why? Because it's a complete set. I now understand that all of the effort over all of those years was not so much about finding the one coin that was more valuabl e than the others, but it was about finding all of the missing coins.

I believe the same is true of God. Whether you see Him as a good shepherd looking for a lost sheep or a coin collector searching for the missing coin this one thing is true: He is not willing that anyone would remain lost, but that everyone would come into relationship with Him. No one person is more valuable than another, the Father is interested in the "complete set" with everyone who may be lost returning to him to find and fill their place in His Kingdom.

Permalink

"...Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it?" (Luke 15:4b)

Imagine for just a moment that you are a sheep. You're all alone, lost somewhere in the woods. It's getting dark, you're hungry, and you've heard that wolves wander around here late at night. What are you going to do? Off in the distance, you can see a flock of sheep grazing in a meadow as their shepherd watches over them. They don't seem to have a care in the world, and they are certainly unaware of the trouble you're in. If you could only find a way to get to them....but the land between where you are and where they are looks rough and uneven, dangerous and scary. Your little sheep mind starts darting from one thought to another as you try to figure out what to do . As you begin to lose hope and look for a warm and safe place to spend the night, a hand rests on your back. While you were so distracted by your own worries and your own troubles, the shepherd was making his way to you. He has found you, and with his help you'll make your way back into the fold.

Isn't this so often how it happens? We feel alone, convinced no one understands or even knows that we're struggling out there all by ourselves. We see others in the church and the life they seem to have, and maybe wonder how we can get there or how things could have worked out so well for them. We want to join up with them, to spend time with them and learn about what they know, but we just seem too far away from where they are for that to be possible. We've already done so many things wrong and have made so many awful mistakes that we don't believe they would ever accept us there, and we convince ourselves that even God doesn't care and doesn't want you to be a part of His family. So often, in the midst of our despair and as we come to believe that our situation is hopeless, a hand rests on our back. The Shepherd has found us, and He will lead us back into safety. As it turns out, we're the ones He was looking for all the time.

Lord God, thank You for looking for me when I was so caught up in my life. Thank You for caring enough to come anc find me, and for not giving up on me. You're so good to me. Thank You. Amen.

Permalink

Do you ever think about how we take things for granted; our health, our possessions, our loved one? It's not until we get gravely ill, lose something that is precious to us, or have a tragedy occur that we recognize the treasures we have in life. I can relate to this due to a recent family member's death. Remember that Jesus is Yahweh-rohi, the Lord our Shepherd.

In reading about the one sheep that was found by his shepherd in Luke 15:4-10 I realized that God must rejoice when a lost soul or deviant soul turns to the truth and eternal life He offers.

Reflect on some of the following verses this week: Psalm 28:9, John 10:11 and 14 (He makes life abundant and gave His life for us), Hebrews 13:20 (life after death), 1 Peter 5:4 (He will return and we will stand accountable to Him), and Revelation 7:17. These all make me think of our shepherd or a lamb.

God rejoices when a lost person sees the gift of salvation. We should not despise or judge the lost or weak, but minister and live with the joy that our salvation provides each of us. Please try to remember your actions do speak louder than your words.

Permalink

Read Luke 15:4-7

Radical, bizarre, it just doesn't make sense! Who would abandon 99 in order to save only 1? Jesus would.

Most people today don't know much about sheep. I don't know much about sheep, but I do know a bit about cats. I have three and I tend to think of them as my children. If all three were outside and one climbed the fence, (they're indoor cats) I would first put the other two inside the house then I would pursue the lost cat.

But that is what I would do. Luckily for us, that is not what Jesus would do. According to the parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus would leave the 99 and go after the one that is lost. His reasoning is that the 99 are already safe and that the lost one needs him the most. He would abandon everything for one single one.

Of course, we know that when he says sheep he means people. He would abandon all the people who are already saved and chase after, hunt for and not rest until he claimed one more.

What if you were that one? That is how much Jesus loves us, each of us, saved or not. He loves you so much that he would give up everything else to take you by the shoulders, look you in the eye and tell you that you are worth everything to him.

Pray this week that Jesus will help you understand more fully his deep and passionate love for you.

Permalink

Luke 15: 7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance"

What is at work here? What is God getting at? I think most people, most religious people, most Christians, love to gloss over this verse. We don't like it. It is contrary to what we, our human selves, hold to be true and right. It is offensive. "There will be more joy in heaven..." Does that not offend you? Is all the hard work and sacrifice that a follower of Christ is called to less pleasing to God than a single act of repentance? The simple and difficult answer is apparently yes. How is that possible? Does all of our devotion, all of the good things we've done in God's name, do they all earn us nothing? Again, the answer is apparently not. Offended yet? It upsets my whole sense of propriety. Those who get the rewards are those who earn them. Harder work and stronger devotion lead to better rewards. But in the kingdom of heaven this is not so.

The parable of the workers in the field illustrates this as well (Matthew 20:1-16). In this parable the owner of a field hires men to work in his field at five different times throughout the day, from early in the morning till just before the work day ended. At the end of the day, each group of workers received the same wage. Those who worked all day and endured the full heat of the sun received the same pay as those who worked only a single hour as the sun was setting. Those workers who had been in the fields since morning doubtlessly wondered the same thing that we do today. How does that make sense? Is that fair? Why? One word. Gratitude. Come again? I think the point is, that the Kingdom of Heaven is not an earthly kingdom. You don't work for God, serve Him, and devote your life to Him because doing so will earn you a larger prize. The prize is freely given; all works, sacrifices, and devotions must spring from gratitude to a being that loves you enough to save you.

There is only one prize, only one gift, and that gift is given to every follower of Christ, regardless of when they were called to work in the fields. We don't like that though, motivation by gratitude is too open ended, there is no "enough", no finish line; it doesn't fit within our earthly kingdom of heaven, so it is ignored. Neither can we accept that all our work and devotion means less than the single repentant act of a "lost sheep". But that is the truth. To we whom have been given everything, everything is the only possible repayment. Gratitude is the only thing in the world that will allow you to give everything you have and be happy that you receive nothing in return.

Permalink