Dad and I got up early Thanksgiving morning to go to
the woods. We saw a few whitetails, but no shooters.
After the day's hunt, we stopped by a local gas
station for a cup of coffee to warm us up from the
chill.
The drive home took nearly an hour. About halfway
through the trip, I decided that I had to take off
some of my heavy clothes. I still had on all of my
hunting apparel...insulated underwear, hooded
sweatshirt, wool coat, coveralls, camouflage jacket,
and two pairs of socks. Okay, so I overdressed; who
likes to be cold in the woods? I pulled over in a
local church parking lot and shed most of those
sweltering layers.
The next morning we decided to give it a try again.
Dad and I went through our usual pre-hunt
preparations and started loading up the jeep. We had
everything we needed -- except my billfold. I have a
habit of placing my billfold in a special place at
home, but it wasn't there.
The two of us turned the jeep up-side-down. We looked
under the seats. We checked the house five times. We
woke my family up at 4:30 a.m. and enlisted their help
in the frantic search. This was my billfold! It had my
driver's license, bank numbers, insurance cards, social
security info, debit card, hunting license, important
phone numbers, etc.
The only two places I could think where possibly I had
lost the billfold was either back at the gas station,
or perhaps back in the parking lot when I was
"disrobing" the morning before. Had I accidentally
dropped it there?
We hastily made our way over to the church parking lot.
The drive seemed like it took forever. I was afraid to
look, but more afraid not to look. I whispered a brief
prayer, "Please Lord." There it was -- the black
billfold lying on the blacktop driveway. It had been
there for nearly a day. Hundreds of cars had passed by,
but no was observant enough to see it. I quickly called
my wife and shared the good news. "We found it!" I
announced.
Stay with me for just a moment.
In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of a woman who had lost
a silver drachma. The coin was worth about the same as a
denarius, which was a full day's wages for common labor
(cf. Matthew 20:2).
She scoured her house for the missing money. Who
wouldn't go looking for a day's wages? But there's more
to the story. When a Jewish girl married, she began to
wear a ten-piece garland around her head to signify that
she was now a wife. Think of it as an ancient version
of our modern wedding ring.
Note the words the Lord employs to describe her search:
light, sweep, and seek (v. 8). Notice too that she
"diligently" (NKJV) sought after the coin. Ladies, how
hard would you look for your diamond wedding band?
When she finally found it, she shared the happy news with
her friends and neighbors. Jesus' audience could identify
with the woman's feelings. Many of them knew what it was
like to lose something of great value as well as the raw
emotion of finding it again.
But the Lord really wasn't talking about a lost coin. His
parable highlighted the elation of reclaiming a lost soul.
Every individual is precious to him (Luke 9:25; 2 Peter 3:9).
Likewise, every individual should be precious to his people,
entrusted as they are with the message of reconciliation
(Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20).
Finding a lost object like a billfold is a relief and joy.
Saving a lost soul for eternity starts a party in heaven
(Luke 15:10).
the woods. We saw a few whitetails, but no shooters.
After the day's hunt, we stopped by a local gas
station for a cup of coffee to warm us up from the
chill.
The drive home took nearly an hour. About halfway
through the trip, I decided that I had to take off
some of my heavy clothes. I still had on all of my
hunting apparel...insulated underwear, hooded
sweatshirt, wool coat, coveralls, camouflage jacket,
and two pairs of socks. Okay, so I overdressed; who
likes to be cold in the woods? I pulled over in a
local church parking lot and shed most of those
sweltering layers.
The next morning we decided to give it a try again.
Dad and I went through our usual pre-hunt
preparations and started loading up the jeep. We had
everything we needed -- except my billfold. I have a
habit of placing my billfold in a special place at
home, but it wasn't there.
The two of us turned the jeep up-side-down. We looked
under the seats. We checked the house five times. We
woke my family up at 4:30 a.m. and enlisted their help
in the frantic search. This was my billfold! It had my
driver's license, bank numbers, insurance cards, social
security info, debit card, hunting license, important
phone numbers, etc.
The only two places I could think where possibly I had
lost the billfold was either back at the gas station,
or perhaps back in the parking lot when I was
"disrobing" the morning before. Had I accidentally
dropped it there?
We hastily made our way over to the church parking lot.
The drive seemed like it took forever. I was afraid to
look, but more afraid not to look. I whispered a brief
prayer, "Please Lord." There it was -- the black
billfold lying on the blacktop driveway. It had been
there for nearly a day. Hundreds of cars had passed by,
but no was observant enough to see it. I quickly called
my wife and shared the good news. "We found it!" I
announced.
Stay with me for just a moment.
In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of a woman who had lost
a silver drachma. The coin was worth about the same as a
denarius, which was a full day's wages for common labor
(cf. Matthew 20:2).
She scoured her house for the missing money. Who
wouldn't go looking for a day's wages? But there's more
to the story. When a Jewish girl married, she began to
wear a ten-piece garland around her head to signify that
she was now a wife. Think of it as an ancient version
of our modern wedding ring.
Note the words the Lord employs to describe her search:
light, sweep, and seek (v. 8). Notice too that she
"diligently" (NKJV) sought after the coin. Ladies, how
hard would you look for your diamond wedding band?
When she finally found it, she shared the happy news with
her friends and neighbors. Jesus' audience could identify
with the woman's feelings. Many of them knew what it was
like to lose something of great value as well as the raw
emotion of finding it again.
But the Lord really wasn't talking about a lost coin. His
parable highlighted the elation of reclaiming a lost soul.
Every individual is precious to him (Luke 9:25; 2 Peter 3:9).
Likewise, every individual should be precious to his people,
entrusted as they are with the message of reconciliation
(Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20).
Finding a lost object like a billfold is a relief and joy.
Saving a lost soul for eternity starts a party in heaven
(Luke 15:10).
by Mike Benson
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