Day 128

The Lost Diamond

“Either what woman having ten pices of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, an sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?” Luke 15:8

I immediately thought of the woman who lost her coin and sought for it diligently as I looked down and discovered that my diamond had come out of it's setting....it was lost! One of the prongs had broken off and snagged my shirt getting my attention. After forty-five years of marriage I found myself without the diamond that had been part of me so many years. It's not just the thought of the lost diamond, it is the sentiment behind it.

I thought of the woman as she probably frantically searched everywhere looking for her lost coin. She was not a rich woman and the coin might have meant food or rent for her at that time. I looked all over the car we were in and came home and swept up the garage floor and went everywhere I had been during the day searching for it. It would truly be a miracle if I found it because I had been many places throughout the day. It is not impossible, but improbable that I will ever find it. It is a sad thing, but not life altering.

Can you just imagine how I would rejoice if I did find the diamond? It would be a true blessing. I would probably call my friends and family to share the news. But can you imagine what it is like when someone especially wicked comes to know Jesus for the first time? What a time of rejoicing that should be. The passage says even the angels are filled with joy and praise. Now that is life altering!

We so often pray to find our lost money or piece of jewelry but do we pray diligently over a lost family member or friend.? Then when they return do we call everyone for a time of celebration and rejoicing that the lost one has come home. The father not only rejoiced in the return of his son but he killed the fatted calf and called his neighbors in to celebrate for this one who was lost had been found.

Let us find ourselves expending as much effort searching for lost souls as we do other things we might have lost that have no eternal value. Now that should be what upsets us, that others will die without Jesus. Examine your heart, call to mind at least one person who needs Jesus and pray for them until they find their way home to the Father.