Found

1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ 10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” — Luke 15:1-10

The Jewish leaders often did not understand what Jesus was doing. If He was a holy man from God, then He should spend His time with others who were holy, like them. And yet Jesus didn’t do this. Instead He spent time with sinners. When they grumbled about this, Jesus told them two parables: about a man who looked for and found his lost sheep, and a woman who looked for and found her lost coin.

If the Pharisees and scribes already belonged to God, then they were like the sheep that had not gotten lost, or the coins that were safely in the woman’s purse. They did not need help finding God. But people who were far from God needed help and so those were the people Jesus went to. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

How can we follow His example of making the lost “found”?
The first thing is our attitude. The man searched for the sheep or the woman for the coin with the intention of finding. Their hearts were involved in the search and no effort was too great. It should be the same when we share Christ with someone. We should look at the person knowing that God loves this person and Christ gave His life for him/her.

Second, the man and woman knew what they were looking for and where to look. (There is a joke about a man who lost a coin in his house, but the light was not good there, so he went outside to search for the coin in the sunlight.) It was the man’s sheep and the woman’s house, so they probably had a good idea where to look. When we share Christ with someone, the more we know the person, the more effective we are.

Finally both the man and the woman said, “rejoice with me” (Luke 15:6,9) after their search was successful. There is no joy in an unsuccessful search, even though we can console ourselves that we planted a seed. Real joy comes from knowing that a soul has been saved.

Prayer:
• Who do you know that needs Christ? Pray for that person.
• Pray that God will use you to make that lost person “found”.