Rejoice with me—ONE HAS REPENTED & HAS BEEN FOUND!
“When he has found it,
(The Gospel According to Luke 15: 5-7 NASB)
he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he comes home,
he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,
‘Rejoice with me,
for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
I tell you that in the same way,
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Every person I know has lost SOMETHING of value, SOMETHING he desperately wishes he could find & SOMETHING that, when found, brings great rejoicing. The other Sunday evening, we were meeting in small group (the young adults and me, the oldest one there in the room). As usual, we began with small talk, then moved into our prayer request time. Before we stepped into our discussion time, one girl present spoke of her lost key fobs. Yes, fobs—she had lost both, meaning that she was ‘fob-less’ (if that’s even a word).
The best part of this story is that one of the lost key fobs was lost to her INSIDE her vehicle, so she was able to start and drive wherever she needed to go, but she could never lock her door, an immediate concerning thought for my heart.
“You need to be able to lock your vehicle,” I said to her as we sat there around the children’s table where we met each Sunday evening. “it’s just not safe.”
“I know,” she replied, “and I think I lost the other one at work, or at least, that’s the last place I saw it.”
With this conversation hanging in the room, we continued our prayer list, adding the ‘lost key fob’ to the bottom of the list.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I proclaimed to the group, as if I was the boss of them. “We’re going to discuss our lesson, pray, and then we’re going to go out to Kasey’s vehicle and find her lost key fob.
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! &
HE WILL ANSWER THIS PRAYER REQUEST!
WE MUST NOT GIVE UP HOPE!
So, we discussed the lesson, & then the group of us headed out to the church parking lot to search for K’s lost key fob. Needless to say, we were NOT stopped by her locked vehicle doors.
Two of the men in our group are mechanically-minded, and so Kyle went to retrieve his tools from his vehicle sitting nearby. The other man went to work, searching high and low throughout Kasey’s vehicle. It’s amazing what we carry inside our vehicles, things going back to the store, things we need to carry into our homes, and things we just like to keep with us as we travel. As we worked to clean out her vehicle, soon the parking lot surrounding her vehicle was littered with these precious keepsakes that would eventually be replaced once we found the key fob.
After ten minutes of searching, of placing our hands deep underneath the seats, of looking high and low, we were still ‘fob-less.’
“Let’s not give up HOPE,” I encouraged the group. “God will answer our prayer.”
It was then (after much searching and after the reminder of our earlier-lifted prayer) that the guys began to dismantle Kasey’s vehicle using their tools. Who ever knew there were so many hiding places deep within the interior of a vehicle’s back seat and compartment area.
After ten more minutes, still we were ‘fob-less’ and beginning to feel defeated, but then—
“When she has found it,
(The Gospel According to Luke 15: 9-10 NASB)
she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me,
for I have found the coin which I had lost!’
In the same way, I tell you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
“I found it!” Todd blurted out.
“Where,” I asked.
Having left the back seat and back compartment area where they had been dismantling just minutes earlier, Todd had returned to the front passenger seat. He had searched in the same area underneath where I had just searched, coming up empty-handed, but now, he came out holding that which had been lost but now had been found.
- JOY IS PRETTY TO SEE & EXPERIENCE!
- REJOICING OVER SOMETHING THAT WAS LOST BUT—NOW IS FOUND!
- JUBILATION TRULY IS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD!
That evening, after we rejoiced together over finding the ‘lost key fob that had been found,’ we replaced all of the items to Kasey’s vehicle. The following days, when Kasey returned to her workplace, a miracle occurred. A courier who carries items to and from her workplace, asked those, “Does anyone know who this key fob belongs to? I found it in my basket the other day and knew it came from this workplace.”
Kasey’s other lost key fob had been found!
“And the son said to him,
(The Gospel According to Luke 15: 21-24 NASB)
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his slaves,
‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’
And they began to celebrate.”
GOD IS GOOD—ALL THE TIME!
- JOY IS PRETTY TO SEE & EXPERIENCE!
- REJOICING OVER SOMETHING THAT WAS LOST BUT—NOW IS FOUND!
- JUBILATION TRULY IS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD!
Ben Fuller sings “If I Got Jesus” reminding us through melody—
- There is one thing we can NEVER LOSE!
- Yes, this is 100% TRUTH!
- There’s a joy we can never hide!
- There’s a safe place to fall!
- When the trumpet sounds, we’re going home!
If we’ve got JESUS, we’ve got it ALL!
Christian, may we NEVER, EVER give up on the lost ones we know.
May we pray without ceasing!
May we share Jesus with those who are lost!
May we be found faithfully testifying—
- Our belief in Jesus!
- Our public confession of our faith in Jesus’ Saving Grace!
- Our baptism, exclaiming to the world, that we are now FOUND IN CHRIST!
HALLELUJAH!
- GOD’S LOVE FOR US—NOT DEPENDENT UPON WHO WE ARE OR WHAT WE CAN DO!
- GOD’S LOVE FOR US—WHAT HE HAS ALREADY DONE FOR US UPON CALVARY’S CROSS & WHEN FROM THE DEAD, GOD RAISED HIS ONLY SON—JESUS—TO NEW LIFE!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(The First letter of Peter 1: 3-9 NASB)
who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you,
who are protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
so that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold which is perishable,
even though tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
and though you have not seen Him, you love Him,
and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him,
you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”