January 17, 2020
Luke 15:8-10
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
New International Version (NIV)
Have you ever found money?  Did it make your day?  A fellow minister tells me that she sometimes loses money.  In fact for every person who finds a dime or a $20 bill, there is almost certainly a corresponding person who lost the dime or $20.  Given the choice, I suppose we would want to be the one who finds the money not the one who loses it.

God knows what it is like to lose one who is precious.  When the religious leaders castigated Jesus for associating with the non-religious folks of his day, he told three lost and found stories.  We may know better the stories of the lost sheep and the lost son.  Remember a shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one that ran away.  Even more familiar, a father waits patiently looking up the road for his prodigal son to return.  Defying decorum, the father runs to his son when he comes to himself and returns home.

In the third story, the woman who loses one of her ten coins searches for it diligently and rejoices greatly when she finds it.  So whose money was it?  Hers.  And she is so glad to get it back.  Her joy is so great that she invites friends and neighbors to rejoice with her.  In fact in each story there is great joy when the lost is found.  The Greek word gives us, “Eureka!  I found it.” 

We belong to God.  When we lose our way or willingly go astray, we may be sure that God is looking for us, wanting to find us.  How does God feel when we return to him?  “Eureka!”  He welcomes us with great joy.  The angels rejoice.  If the church is the “Eureka community,” as those who also have been found, shouldn’t we rejoice with the Father when he finds one who is lost?
Pray with me:       
Father, thank you for searching for us, finding us and welcoming us home.  Remind us Lord that we all like sheep, coins and kids have gone astray.  Each of us has turned to our own way.  Make us as glad to be found as you are to find us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
Join us in memorizing the Word.  Scripture for this week:    
Matthew 5:5-6
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan.  Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG 
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week.  In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year.  Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.  
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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