8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? 9 Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Tina Bogg

In our house something is always lost. It might be a crucial Lego piece, a shoe, a bar of chocolate… This story of the woman who had ten silver coins and loses one reminds us that when we lose something that is precious to us, we don’t just give up, we search carefully until we find it. We retrace our steps, search in every random unfathomable place (under the couch, in the fridge, through every bin) and then look again and again until finally, we see a little glimmer of it! How willing we are to look is often a measure of how much it means to us. In the same way, we are so precious to God that He will keep searching for us, calling us, sending us people and messages and even chastising us until we turn to him and are saved.

Sometimes the joy of finding what we had lost is so wonderful that we cannot help but tell everyone around and invite them to celebrate with us. “Look – that thing I told you about: I found it!!” In a far more amazing way, Jesus teaches us that there is rejoicing with the angels when a sinner repents.

I’m sure we all have friends and family who we would dearly love to know Jesus, but with whom it seems almost impossible that they would change. We might have attempted many times over the years to invite them to church or talk to them about Jesus, with no apparent fruit. I can think of my own parents and sister, as well as a number of high school friends. I think this is why there is such celebrating in heaven when, at last, God changes their heart and they do turn and give their life to Jesus! Let us keep praying, keep expecting, and keep doing our part in God’s plan for the people God has in our lives, knowing that with us things may be impossible but with God, all things are possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tina is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.