THURSDAY January 16th
Luke 15:8-10
‘Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
Why would Jesus give another parable that really speaking led to the same conclusion as the previous one, concerning the joy that is known in heaven over a sinner that repents?
Well, I am not saying that I know the answer, but I am going to give my thoughts on the matter. Jesus loved to use simple illustrations so that the simple folk could understand the message. There are only a few that have experienced what it is to lose a sheep, but every one of us can relate to our losing something in the home.
I’ve known what it is like to lose a sheep, but I can tell you I have known more often than I wish to remember what it is to lose something around the house, especially my glasses or my keys!
But there is something else that we can all relate to, and it is the value of that which was lost, one lost sheep was important to the shepherd, even though he still had another ninety-nine and the one lost coin was important to the woman even though she had another nine coins. It doesn’t matter whether it was one percent that was lost as in the sheep or ten percent lost in the story of the coins everyone matters to Jesus and as we will see in the third story the percentage is even higher at 50% missing.
Jesus will leave the ninety-nine to find the one sheep and he will search every nook and cranny to find the one coin that will make the set complete.
There is not a single place in this world that the care of, the love of and the heart of God through the Lord Jesus Christ is not willing to go to save a lost soul.
He found me in a church, it may have only been a tin building that looked no more than a glorified shed, he has found those who have been locked in a prison cell for crimes they have done, he has met with those who have been in brothels or other places we would call dens of iniquity, he has met with those who have been wandering like lost souls in the streets, he has met men and women in more places that we can ever imagine, because there is no nook or cranny, there is no mountain side nor valley, no place on earth where his love can not reach down into and lift up. He will untangle every bramble, he will pour in the oil and the wine, he will dust off and clean up anyone who is willing to call upon Him and be saved.
Such is his love. And the love that we have come to know, he longs that others will also come to know. May God help us to share the love of Jesus to this lost and dying world. Let’s do our part in helping to find the lost sheep and the lost coins.