Today started out like a dream. I got to sleep in and share breakfast with my wife, and I had time to exercise before I had to head to work around noon. That is until... I couldn't find the key to the car. I retraced every step I could possibly remember where I'd been last night before bed and I could not come up with the missing keys. I searched through laundry, under the bed covers, all the usual spots we leave our pocket items and still nothing!
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, asking the Lord to help me find them without losing my head. Suddenly I had the thought, "the chair!" Things fall out of our pockets in the recliner all the time, maybe the keys fell through the cracks. I flipped the recliner over to search the cracks and there on the floor was the lost key! My peace was restored and my sanity remained in tact as I let my wife know after 30 minutes of searching that I'd found the lost key.
Immediately after I found the key, I was reminded of the the woman in Jesus' parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). She swept her house, and searched carefully until she found what she was looking for. Jesus said, "In the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The rejoicing in light of the labor involved to find what once was lost is an eruption of sheer joy in heaven; that upon the moment of confession and conversion, a sinner reborn into a saint brings God the same joy as I had when I found the lost key. Why would I not want play my part in the search for the lost - that God might have such joy in the sinner who repents?
Thank you Lord for this insightful illustration today. I pray for those who bring you joy in their repentance today - being found in your grace!
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