-Devotion by Whitney Myers (AZ)
“And when he [the shepherd] finds it [his lost sheep], he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” (Luke 15:5)
Sometimes followers of Christ tend to stray away from the good path that we as believers try to always follow. We consider ourselves lost and almost forgotten. We feel as though we don’t have a purpose and there’s no sense in trying because we’re just going to fail and even if we do succeed nobody will notice or care. However, that is not true.
Take the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Your worth is something that cannot be taken away. What one person may see as impractical may be another’s most prized possession. For example, when you were a child you probably had a favorite stuffed animal. Mine was this brown bear with a little Christmas hat and a scarf with two pom poms on the end and his name was Belkey. I was only 10 months old when I received him but we were inseparable. I brought Belkey everywhere. I actually remember one day I lost one of the pom poms on the end of his scarf and held a private funeral for it. I cried for about a day. I told my mom and obviously she was sympathetic about it but she wasn’t crying on the floor making a fuss about it like I was. I was so disappointed that I lost something so valuable to me and even though my mom didn’t feel the same level of letdown she was still very sad for me because she knew how much I loved that bear.
This parable in Luke 15 gives three examples. One of a shepherd losing one of his one hundred sheep, one of a woman losing one of her ten silver coins, and one of a father losing one of his two sons. For the silver coin, the woman probably misplaced it but the sheep and the son could have run away. Now, a sheep is an animal and doesn’t have many feelings but we can imply that the sheep did not know its surroundings and was lost until his shepherd found him. However, the son ran away on purpose. He left to live a lavish life of spending and partying. Eventually, he ran out of money and the country he set off to had begun to experience a severe famine. He then “went and hired himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.” (Luke 15:15). At this point he was regretting his decision of running away and he felt truly lost. He didn’t know who he was anymore and felt as though he didn’t have a purpose. I mean, he literally went from living lavishly with so much money to feeding filthy animals. He concluded he should probably do something about this. He went home to his father and accepted the truth that he had sinned and voluntarily said he would be his own father’s slave. The moment his father saw his son returning back to him he was “filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20). The father immediately suggested they have a feast and celebrate because his son “was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:32) The son was ashamed of his sins and rightfully so but the father was so grateful to have him back. The father’s other son however was not. He resented the father for being so welcoming while the whole time he’d been working for him and didn’t get any recognition. Even though the son’s brother didn’t appreciate his return, the father did which solidifies that the son’s worth never changed. The son just went through a rough moment in time and had to open his eyes and realize that his actions were the problem.
Everyone wasn’t as happy as the father was when the son arrived back home (like how sad I was when I lost my bear’s pom pom) but that didn’t make the son any less of a person. All of us are just as valuable as the other and when one of us wavers away in our faith, God yearns for us to return. When we return, it’s a par-tay!!!! “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7). The sooner we can recognize that the feeling of being lost and unwanted is all in our head and we make a move to return back to God, the sooner we can enjoy being in His presence rejoicing with Him.
Reflection Questions
- What do you think gives you worth? What do you think God says gives you worth? Who is right?
- When or in what ways have you run from God? Did you have a wake-up moment like the son did? What did that look like? What did you experience when you returned to God?
- If you have been more like the faithful, but bitter, son, what advice would Jesus who gave this parable have for you?
Prayer
Dear God, I thank You for Your love and faithfulness! Thank you for Your love for the faithful and for the lost. Help me to have that same love and longing and welcoming arms. Give us wisdom to know how good we have it being Your child. Keep me, and Your church, from all foolishness and rebellion.
