Who Are You Investing Into?
I open my wallet to give the cashier my card, and that’s when I notice it’s missing. My ATM card isn’t in the space I always keep it in. Not good. My mind races to the last time I used it. When was that? Yesterday? At the grocery story? Or was it the gas station? Which place did I go to first?
I count a few dollars in my purse, pay for my items, and rush to my car to begin the search. Maybe it fell out of my wallet and landed on the floor of my car? Nope, not there. Or maybe I put it in my other purse? Not there, either. So I drive home, plotting which rooms to search first.
Up and down the stairs, I search each room.
While retracing my steps of the previous day, a faint memory returns. At the store the day before, I felt rushed to get out of the next person’s way, so I quickly slipped my card into my back pocket, thinking I’d put it in my wallet later. But then I forgot. Where are those jeans now? A new search commences.
At the bottom of the washer, soaking wet and waiting to be moved to the dryer, I find my jeans. And there in the back pocket, I find my wet ATM card and whisper, “Thank You, Lord.” I don’t have to call the bank and go through the hassle of cancelling my card and waiting for a new one.
In Luke 15, we read two parables—one with a lost sheep, the other with a lost coin.
In both parables, Jesus describes the search for the one thing that was lost. A good shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one sheep missing. And a woman searches her whole house to find the one missing coin. In both instances, when they find what they’re looking for, there is much joy and celebration.
Each parable has a parallel to God the Father. He actively pursues each lost soul and He will not rest until He finds the missing one.
That one? Is you. And me.
God’s heart is for the individual. Because He cares. He cares so much that He throws a party in heaven when He’s found us and brought us home.
As believers in Christ, we now get to join Him in His mission. We’re not responsible for saving the world, but we are responsible to pursue the one person God places on our hearts. Pastor Jeff calls this our “one life.”
Who is your one life?
I know who mine is. But I have to ask myself: do I pursue my one life with as much intensity as I pursued my lost ATM card?
So I pick up my phone and send a text to my friend, my one life, asking to meet for coffee. And I tell her I’m buying, because I found my ATM card.
Throughout the Week . . .
- Read the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7. What does it say happens in heaven?
- Read the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15:8-10. What does she do when she finds her lost coin?
- If you don’t have a “one life,” spend a few moments praying, and ask God to show you the one person He wants you to befriend and share Christ with.
- Call your one life, or send a text, and plan a time to get together.