Lost & Found: a Scripture Meditation
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The most important thing about you is your concept of God.
And there is a corollary to that.
The next most important thing about you is what you think to be God’s attitude, His “feelings” toward you. These are basic to who you think you are and will influence how you think and live your life.
And in reality, what you believe about God and yourself in relationship to Him are based either on God’s truth or on lies instigated by the enemy of your soul. Those lies are most often perpetrated by significant people in your life who have been believing and living by these same lies for themselves — parents, family members, friends and “enemies,” the “culture,” and even religious leaders.
I love how Jesus addressed some of those perpetrators of His day (the religious rulers — the legalistic, rigid , judgmental Pharisees) and their unaware “victims” — ordinary people kinda like you and me.
In Luke 15, Jesus hits the lies of the religious leaders of His day square in the face. And at the same time, He tenderly describes what God is really like and what His attitude really is toward needy, hurting, even straying people. He does this masterfully by telling three stories.
Read and meditate on each of these stories thoughtfully and prayerfully to get at the truth about our two fundamental questions:
What is God REALLY like?
How does He REALLY feel toward me?
As you meditate on each story, ask God to open your eyes and heart to the truth. After each one, I will share a few thoughts from a recent meditation with my online Bible study group* as we reflected on the Lenten Reading, A Word of Salvation (previous post)..
Luke 15 New Living Translation
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
3 So Jesus told them this story:
Parable of the Lost Sheep
4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Observations and Thoughts:
Our Shepherd (GOD) owns us and knows us intimately (John 10).
He watches over us and seeks us out when we are off His path.
We don’t need to be afraid of being found. His heart is toward His sheep even and especially the one who is going astray.
Notice the joy in the finding.
Your thoughts? Share in the comment section?
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Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Observations and Thoughts:
Since women received 10 coins for their wedding, to lose one would be comparable to losing a wedding band or a diamond within a wedding ring — irreplaceable. Thus the woman’s drivenness to find the coin.
As far as God is concerned He is in a sense “driven” to find us because we are valuable to Him and even irreplaceable.
Notice the joy in the finding.
Your thoughts? Share in the comment section?
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Parable of the Lost Son
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.[b]’
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Observations and Thoughts:
The Father (GOD) is unconditionally loving and divided His wealth between BOTH sons (not just one) — verse 12
He let the younger son go to sow his wild oats, all the while watching for him,, ready to welcome him back home. He didn’t force the son to stay but never lost hope.
When the younger son repented and came home, the Father welcomed him with open arms and threw a party. He wasn’t mad. Neither is God. He always welcomes us with open arms and is smiling at us.
Notice the joy in the returning of the younger son.
However there is an elder son who was just as lost as younger, but in a different way. The elder was working for what he already had: all the Father’s goods and favor and love (see verses 12 & 31), but he wasn’t experiencing it because of his resentment and legalistic way of obeying the Father and living in his Father’s house. Does that sound familiar?
Your thoughts? Share in the comment section below please.
*Thank you, ladies in my Tuesday evening online class. Your insights and reflections inspired and amplified this post.
