Message summary:  Have you ever lost something and then experienced the joy of finding it? Today's parable reminds each of us that we personally matter to God. There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God every time a sinner repents. If you have not repented and placed your faith in Christ, today would be a great day to bring about rejoicing in heaven!

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"...Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not 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).

Do you ever misplace anything? Anyone who says "never" I suspect is personally deceived! But certainly some have a greater problem with misplacing items than others ("misplaced" being a gentler word than "losing").

As we age we're more prone to losing things or actually more prone to forgetting where we placed them. In our home the most frequent items we lose are keys, the wallet or purse, and our cell phones. But perhaps our most mundane and frequent lost item is our coffee mugs. We get early and make coffee, place it in a mug and than as we do our morning chores carry it with us and then forget where we put it!

But losing items is not distinct to our generation or geographical location. Jesus spoke in parables and remarkably, two thousand years later, people in every culture still identify with them. After all, we've all lost something of value and know the relief and joy in finding it.

The series of parables in Luke 15 illustrate the lost state of humanity and the great joy redemption brings, with an emphasis today on just one coin of ten that was found and just one sinner of millions who repents.

Due to our understanding of coins (which to us are usually small change of little value) it's hard to identify with this woman who went to such effort to find one coin out of ten. We might see it like a frantic search for a dime. But without paper currency this coin was a significant loss to the woman either due to its value or her level of poverty.* She lit a lamp, swept the house and searched carefully until she found it.

It's especially hard for us to imagine calling our friends and neighbors over to rejoice with us when we find a lost coin! But this single coin was of great value to this woman reminding us of the great value of one sinner who repents. What's more, aren't you thankful for friends that rejoice with you even in the small rather than just the large blessings?

This parable reminds each of us that we personally matter to God. There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God every time a sinner repents. If you have not repented and placed your faith in Christ, today would be the perfect day to bring about some rejoicing in heaven, for "today is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2)! Experience the great joy of being found and declaring, "I once was lost, but now I'm found!"


Be encouraged today!  Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber