Lost Things

Pastor's Thoughts:
Are you the finder of lost things in your house/family?  I am in our family. If someone can’t find something, they ask me where it is.

People have a free will in life and once they hear about God’s love, they can choose to accept it or to give it up or reject it.  When we reject it, we are lost to Him. Then God is like that family member you have who is the finder of lost things, He searches with the anticipation that one day that lost thing and, in this case, His lost child, will return to Him.

Jesus taught on this very issue using parables. What is a parable? A beautiful old definition says that parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. They are not simply nice stories to entertain us and spark our imaginations.

When I speak today of the word “lost” and we look at these parables, I’m not just speaking about people who are have not given their lives to Christ. I’m also speaking to those who are Christians but yet have pieces of our lives that we are still holding back from God. Meaning we aren’t letting Him be Lord over everything in our lives and we need to let Him save, heal and restore all of it.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep—Luke 15: 1-7—God Seeking Us

• He looks out and sees His people like a good shepherd and realizes that one has wondered away. He looks and determines that 99 sheep are safe and out of danger because they are where He called them to be.  But that 1 little stray lamb is needing saved and to be taken out of the mess that it got itself into because it left His protection.
• God sees your pain and suffering when you are not with Him. He wants to lead us home and rejoice that we were once lost but have now  been found.
• God will continue to seek you because you are His child.

The Parable of the Lost Coin—Luke 15: 8-10— God Seeking Us

• A coin is mistakenly misplaced or falls away from its correct location. People can be like that, sometimes we are lost because circumstances have drawn us away from God.  Maybe it has been temptations, sickness, loneliness, anger, or unforgiveness but no matter the reason, it has caused us to take our eyes off of our Savior and we have become lost.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son or the Lost Son—Luke 15:11-24—Us Seeking God

• God has provided us with a free will to life live without constraints.
• He didn’t recognize himself;  he had changed for the worse in a country that was not his home.  We do the same, living in our sin without asking for forgiveness, we catch ourselves, don’t recognize ourselves, and realize we are in a place we don’t belong.
• Then we remember we need to return to our father because this world is not our eternal home.  God is ready to forgive and restore. 
•  With God, our sins are washed in the blood of the lamb, Jesus, never to be seen again and we are restored to being His child.

Closing

• In the lost sheep and the lost coin, God is the seeker of the lost. 
• In the lost son, we are the ones taking the journey to be found because we are the lost one and need restored.
• In all three parables, God saves and restores those who were willing to be found.

Reflecting on these three parables, do you find yourself connecting and feeling like you are one of them today?

• Are you the lost sheep, the lost coin, or the lost son? 
• Are you feeling lost?
• Do you need God to find you? Do you need God to heal and restore you?