Finding the Value of What Is Lost

Luke 15 is one of the most interesting chapters in the New Testament. There are three separate parables told about things that are lost…a coin, a sheep, and a son. These parables communicate the value of the “lost” to God. A woman does everything she can to find a coin she has lost. A shepherd leaves the other sheep behind to find the one lost sheep. A father throws cultural decorum and fear of what others think to the wind to demonstrate his love for a lost, rebellious son who has returned home. The woman, the shepherd and the father have many other things that have not been lost. The woman has nine other coins. The shepherd has 99 other sheep. The father has another son and many possessions…but each of them greatly values the one that was lost. I suggest you read the chapter for yourself.

What is interesting to me is the first sentence of the chapter: Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. I absolutely love this statement about the people who felt comfortable with Jesus. The tax collectors and the sinners were the “lost” people of 1st century Jewish society….and Jesus felt very comfortable with them. Jesus certainly knew the value of those who were lost. I hope that we have the same attitude and appreciation for the “lost”. Sometimes people are lost because they want to be and other times they are lost because of circumstances and situations that have overtaken them. In either case, like the woman, the shepherd and the father, we should either be actively looking for the lost and enthusiastic in receiving them into our lives. I pray that you value the “lost” people in your life.

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