The Lost Are Found!

THE LOST ARE FOUND!

a prayer to open

Open my eyes and help me to see you.

Open my heart and help me to know you.

Jesus, my Lord and my God.

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people. . . .

So Jesus told them this story: “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? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 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!

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 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.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Have you ever noticed how much kids love to play hide-and-seek? Didn’t you? Remember how excited you felt when you were found? You were supposed to discover the best hiding place, but what a thrill it was to be found! We all hide from God. And it’s for all kinds of reasons: shame, guilt, rebellion, fear. But if we sit still enough, in the quiet, we discover that what we really want—our deepest desire—is to be sought out, found, picked up, and returned to the God who loves us and wants to make us whole. What’s amazing is that he is thrilled to find us. All of heaven rejoices when he finds us where we are and says, “There you are! Come with me!”

• What would you turn over heaven and earth to find if you lost it? Describe the emotion that stirs when you think about God searching for you and rejoicing over you in this way.
• How is he inviting you to be part of his mission to search for the lost and rejoice over the found?
• What does today’s passage reveal to you about Jesus?

Father, thank you for finding me! I’m sure I would have called off the search, figured the lost could never be found. After all, I endlessly turned away from you, rejected your ways, and closed my eyes to you. But you, Lord, never stopped and never gave up. You pursued me without ceasing. You gently called to me again and again, even as I chased after sin. You put people in my path to show me your love. Would you use me now as you pursue others? Put me in someone’s path and allow me to show your love. Amen.