Finding What’s Lost
Before I begin the thoughts for today, I want to revisit John 10:10. It reads, in part “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” I found this idea to be worthy of consideration and reflection. I asked myself a question; If I didn’t have a testimony of the Savior, how would my worst and best day have been different? I concluded that the worst days would have left me hopelessly lost in despair, and by best days just okay and probably uncertain if the feeling would be lasting or transitory. This little exercise makes me more grateful for the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Luke 15 the Savior teaches three parables that deal with things that are lost: sheep, silver, and a son. If we categorize them the sheep would be things that we are responsible to protect and care for, the silver represents things we work for, and the son, our treasured relationships.
The first two parables describe an obsession to find that which is missing. In the case of the sheep the man leaves 99 of his sheep in the wilderness to find the one. It seems irrational to me to leave the 99 in a dangerous situation to find the one that is missing. If he left them in a corral or had someone else watching it would be different.
Looking for the lost piece of silver is a little different, however think about the single-mindedness of the woman looking for the coin. Nothing else mattered to her; only the missing piece of silver. Could she have spent the time earning more money than what was lost?
The prodigal son is different. The father lost his son to a choice the son made. The father didn’t go looking for the son. If we read between the lines of the story, we can imagine that the father thought about his son every day. He probably wondered if he was prospering or if he was dead, hoping for the former, and fearing the latter.
In each of the parables, the joy of finding what was lost became a celebration of sorts; gathering friends and family to rejoice over finding the sheep, coin, and the prodigal son. It says nothing of gratitude of having 100 sheep instead of 99, or having 10 pieces of silver instead of 9. In the story of the prodigal son, the faithful son resented the celebration and needed his father’s reassurance that he appreciated his faithfulness and that his reward consisted of all his father had.
Certainly celebrations of achievements is in order when we find something that was lost, but gratitude for what we currently possess is equally important. Many people keep a gratitude journal which helps them keep things in perspective, making their lives a little better.
When we lose things, obsessive searching while ignoring other responsibilities and duties is not good. I think this concept is implicit in each of the parables. The Savior mentioning leaving sheep in the wilderness had to strike a cord of illogic with the hearers; you don’t leave sheep alone in the wild. The potential for disaster is one hundred percent. There is a lesson there for us all; obsessive behaviors need to be identified and controlled. Rather, a measured consistent effort to find what is lost must be balanced with getting on with daily responsibilities.
As always, I want to challenge each of us to apply these parables to ourselves. Most of us don’t have sheep or silver currency to worry about but we probably all have relationships with someone who chooses to be lost. Another thing we all have in common is that we have all lost the memory of living with our Father in Heaven before coming to earth. In short, we all have things to look for and most of us, if not all, are prodigal children trying to find our way home.
Have a blessed Sabbath day, and if any of you have seen my small needle nose pliers let me know and we will rejoice together.