Dailies ~ Advent
December 15, 2019
What will you do to find what you have
lost? Jesus encourages us that we can count on God to find us if we get lost.
He shares how the shepherd would go out and search for that one lost sheep when
it meant that he would have to leave the 99 behind. He cares that much for one
of us who strays away from the path He has put before them. He wants us to know
how much we are loved. I do not know about you but after reading these stories,
including the lost coin and the prodigal son, I really thought about how much
God really cares about me. I am just a lost coin, or a stray sheep but He cared
enough to find me and bring me into the fold.
He cares if we hurt, He cares if we
fell left out and alone; He is with us always, so He knows where we are. We
need to remember that we are loved, and we are safe in His arms, in His
presence, always.
Heavenly father,
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to
Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and
teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful
people—even eating with them!
3 So Jesus told them this
story: 4 “If a man has a hundred
sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the
ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost
until he finds it? 5 And when
he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he
arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with
me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the
same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and
returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t
strayed away!
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten
silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire
house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when
she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with
me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the
same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner
repents.”
11 To illustrate the point
further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The
younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you
die.’ So, his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this
younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he
wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the
time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to
starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer
to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young
man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to
him. But no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to
his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food
enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go
home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am
no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired
servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his
father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.
Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed
him. 21 His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy
of being called your son.’
22 “But his father said to the
servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a
ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill
the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this
son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is
found.’ So, the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son
was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in
the house, 26 and he asked one of the
servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your
brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf.
We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was
angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he
replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a
single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one
young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when
this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you
celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him,
‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to
celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life!
He was lost, but now he is found!’”