Luke 7:3-6
Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
When our oldest daughter, who has since gone to be with the Lord, was in high school she had problems with her teeth. To correct the problem the dentist had fitted her with a retainer. It was an expense that really stretched our limited budget.
Our hearts sank when she came home one day to announce that she had lost her retainer. The shock was followed by an examination of where she could have lost it. The only place she could remember taking it out was in the lunch room. We were filled with hope and dread. Hope of finding it and dread at having to dig through a messy dumpster that held all of the kitchen waste.
Looking for a needle in a haystack may have been harder, but it certainly would have smelled sweeter. Hour after hour we searched and even after dark we used lights, but found nothing. It was the next day that our daughter found the retainer in her purse. That was over 50 years ago and I still recall the joy at finding the lost.
Sometimes we have friends and family that are lost. We watch and pray for some way to reach them. What joy we feel when a lost soul is found. It is worth all of our effort to seek the lost. Only eternity will reveal the significance.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil