I recently misplaced a check. Like most things I seem to lose, I had taken special care to
put the check somewhere safe and in a place I could find it later. When it came time to put the
check in the bank, I could not remember what I had done with it. I started looking, but was about
to give up, when I got out the deposit slips and there was the check just where I had put it for
safe keeping.
This incident reminded me of the parable Jesus tells in Luke 15. "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" (Luke 15:8-10).
A seemingly simple story that we can all relate to. We have all had that item we need and
start to search for, tearing the house apart looking everywhere. I have even found our television
remote in the refrigerator when our kids were younger. When we lose our keys suddenly our car
is useless, and we can’t go anywhere because we can’t find a small piece of metal. Simple
everyday items like keys or lost money, as in the case of this parable, can seem so important
when we can’t find them.
The parable doesn’t focus on the feeling of loss but on the feelings we have when we find
the item we have been looking for—the happiness and relief that is felt when that item we have
been separated from is finally brought back into our possession. It is that point that Jesus wants
to drive home. It is us, the sinner, that is lost and separated from God. It is God and the angels in
heaven who rejoice when we repent and are brought back into that right relationship with our
God.

~B Tolbert