Jesus Loves the Lost – October 10, 2019

[Jesus told them this parable] “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10

Jesus Loves the Lost

Keys, cell phones, toys, computer files. We all lose things from time to time. How carefully we look for them may indicate how valuable they are to us. When I was eight or nine years old, my parents had recently bought me a new baseball glove. One day I couldn’t find it. I didn’t know where it was. My dad was not happy with me, mostly because I didn’t seem to care that I had lost my new glove and wasn’t too concerned about finding it. My attitude seemed to show that I didn’t value my lost glove.

A popular Christian hymn says, “I once was lost but now am found.” When Jesus told the story about a lost coin, he was comparing us to that lost coin. The disobedient hearts we inherited from our parents lead us to wander away from God. The Bible describes us as spiritually lost. Jesus could have just written us off. It was our fault, not his, that we were lost. But Jesus loved us more than that.

He went out of his way to find us. He came down from heaven “to seek and to save the lost.” He found us in our sin and saved us by taking our place under God’s judgment. And when our hearts lead us to keep running away from God and into sin, Jesus keeps seeking us.

In his Word, Jesus shows us how our sins offend God. Then, he shows us the forgiving love that brought him to earth to save us. With that two-fold message, he picks us up from the dust and draws us to himself, where he wants us to stay forever. And with his angels, he rejoices that we have been found and freed from sin and death. How much he loves us!

Prayer:
How much you love me, Lord, to seek me and find me whenever I’m lost. Thank you! Amen.