Grandmother's Charm Necklace

This week my wife lost her "Grandmother's Charm Necklace", one of those that
have the little people on it that represent special people in your lives,
like grandchildren. We found the necklace, however there was one of the
little charms missing. We searched everywhere we could think of and couldn't
find it. She even got a small sweeper and swept the floor hoping to find it.
We had no luck, it's still missing.

Of course this brought to mind the story of the woman who lost a coin in
Luke 15:8-9. Jesus said, "Or 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.'

The little figure my wife lost was not particularly valuable, but it was
precious because it represented the memory of someone close to her. What is
it that you hold close to your heart as being of special value? Granted to
someone else it might seem foolish or not worth worrying about, but to you
it is special. Why, what makes it special to you?

Now what you may or may not remember about the scripture above, the point is
really not about finding lost coins, (or even about finding lost charms), it
is about finding lost people. The rest of the verse says, "In the same way,
I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents."

Eventually the charm was found, but I wonder if we put the same amount of
concern, prayer and searching for lost people as we do for lost things.

Perhaps it's time for us to step back and look at our lives and see what is
really important, what we really value, what we would regret if we lost it
(or them). In our life, my wife and I have come to realize that it is not
things that are really important. You can't take things with you, what is
important is people, because those you can take with you to heaven. People
are what are really worthy of rejoicing about! Take a look around you and
ask yourself the question, "If I lost all that surrounds me, would it really
matter?" What is it that we really value in life? Maybe it's time to make a
choice! If you don't rejoice for finding the right things, you may not
rejoice at all!

Russ Lawson