Lost

Narrative Lectionary Lent Devotional for March 19, 2017
March 19
Lost
Tina Walker-Morin
Luke 15:1-10

Have you ever driven somewhere and felt you were heading in the wrong direction? You begin looking around trying to recognize a building or a street sign -- something confirming you are on the correct path. Yet, the road seems unfamiliar. Your heart starts racing, your eyes look all around, you turn down the radio so you can focus…am I lost?

Jesus shares the parable of the lost sheep and coin. Both the sheep and coin did not intentionally move away from their owners, yet they are lost. The owners go searching for them and upon finding the sheep/coin they gather friends and neighbors to rejoice.

The sheep and the coin were found; they did not repent. So why, then, are we told “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”? Must we first be found in order to repent?

We do not need to wait for God to find us, for we are already found. God has never stopped searching for us and is waiting to rejoice with us. Repent in the Greek New Testament means to “turn around”. We, unlike sheep/coins, have the ability to turn around to God. God follows and searches for us when we go astray.

Driving in the wrong direction can feel like an eternity. Yet once you turn around and head in a familiar direction, you realize you were not that far off course.
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May you always be alert to when you need to turn around. 

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