Picture by Caprice
Miller
“Or
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
I have a thing for miniature things. Tea sets, doll houses with tiny furniture,
even miniature food such as sliders and tiny desserts. Even though dimes are not the smallest in
amount, they are the smallest in size of the coins. So, naturally, that makes them a favorite
coin. They tend to be shinier than the
other coins too. It makes me a little
giddy to think of a bunch of dimes all together like they are in this
picture. When you have a collection of
something like miniature things or anything else for that matter, it makes a
much better display when you keep them together. They take on a characteristic of being “unique
in their likeness”. In other words, even
though the item is a part of a similar/like collection, they are all unique in their
own way. As the collector of the items,
I would immediately notice if one were missing.
And, yes, like the lady in the parable above, I would search and search
until I found it.
But how does a collection of miniature
things relate to a meaningful discussion about God? Are we, His creation, suddenly like a
collection item to Him to sit on a shelf (all be it, a very special shelf, I’m
sure) and be admired for our “uniqueness in our likeness”? NOT AT ALL!!!
The parable from Luke is one of three that Jesus tells in sequence. He begins with a missing sheep, then talks
about the missing coin and then ends with a prodigal son. In our humanity, these situations would
probably find us saying “it’s just a sheep.
I have 99 others. Oh well.” Or “Well,
I thought I had another coin. Oh well. I guess it will turn up at some point if I
did.” Or “Ungrateful kid! After all I’ve done for you! See how you like it out there on your
own. Don’t come crawlin’ back here
though when you fail!” But with each
story we find that there is great distress for what is missing. And then even greater joy when it is
found. If you haven't read Luke 15, you should.
God created us to be in relationship with
Him. Like the father in the prodigal son
story, it grieves Him greatly when we choose to walk away. But He is always wanting you to come back
home though. Many times we convince
ourselves that there is no way we could come to Him. There is too much baggage and we have to
clean up before we even try and just hope that He even accepts us. But consider the son in the story. He had just gotten to the lowest point of living
in a pig pen and eating with the pigs too.
Imagine the humiliation this Jewish guy went through. Chances are he didn’t have a chance or the
money to get “cleaned up” before going back home. So he was probably still his messy, pig
covered self. But when his father saw
him, none of that mattered. He RAN to
his lost son!!!
Don’t think you have to “DO” before you can
come to the Father. The work has been “DONE”
through the sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has given us the opportunity to have that relationship
with Him through Jesus Christ. He offers
that to everyone. He is like the father
of the prodigal son. He is waiting for
us to come to Him no matter what condition we are in. He meets us where we are. Know that you will be a cause of celebration
when you decide to run to His waiting arms. You matter so much to Him and you are
precious to Him.
Ready to run back? Just pray this: Dear God, I admit
that I am a sinner and that I have messed up from time to time. I believe that
Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that God raised Him from the dead. I
choose to follow You, Jesus, and I confess that You are my savior. Thank you,
Jesus, for saving me. I love You. Amen.
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