Lost Things

I watched him walk past the machine.
He walked by it and then came back.
I knew what he wanted.
I had to continue watching him to see if I was right.

I have used the machine myself when my little crock is filled with coins.
When it is filled to the brim with nickels, dimes, and quarters, I take it to the machine.
The machine counts my coins.
It is loud as the coins fall into the appropriate slots in order to be counted.

This little boy knew the purpose of the machine.
Perhaps he poured some coins in at one time or another.
Perhaps he watched his mother pour a jar of coins inside the machine.
He was infatuated with the green machine.

I saw him look on the floor.
I saw him look on the left side and then on the right side.
I saw him go over to the return slot where some of the coins fall through.
I knew what he was doing.

He was looking for loose change.
He was playing the old, finders keepers game.
I really hoped that he found some coins.
He walked away empty handed.

No one uses pay phones any more, but they were a mainstay when I was a girl.
They were even part of our culture as my children were growing up.
Those were the pre-cell phone days.
Pay phones have gone the way of the dinosaur it seems.

My boys used to run up to a pay phone and see if there were any coins in the return slot.
Once in a while they would find a dime or two.
It was finders keepers for them and they were thrilled.
There was no way of knowing who the change belonged to since many people used the phone.

It was the thrill of the find.
It was finding something that was not supposed to be there.
It wasn’t that the amount was anything significant.
It was just the sheer pleasure of finding something extra.

I thought of my sons as I watched the little boy near the coin machine.
Many years have passed but the thrill was the same.
Or the boy was the same.
Or the sheer pleasure of finding something extra was the same.

It is not just a little boy thing.
We have all put our hand in our pocket and found a ten dollar bill.
Even if it was our money to begin with, it is so much fun to find something unexpected.
I teased my children about emptying their pockets; whatever I found in the wash was mine.

I lost a bracelet that I found in a boot on the floor of my closet.
It had fallen off without me realizing it.
The bracelet was lost for an entire year.
When I happened to moved that particular boot in the winter time, I heard a noise.

I looked inside the boot and found my missing bracelet.
Oh, the delight of finding something I thought was long gone.
There is a delight when we find lost things.
There is pleasure in finding the unexpected.

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not 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)

We can understand that woman.
She lost one of her silver coins and searched everywhere for it.
She searched carefully.
She rejoiced when she found what was lost.

Suppose one of you have a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my sheep.” I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:3-7)

Lost coins and lost sheep.
More than the items themselves, God wants us to know how important it is to find what is lost.
A found coin and a found sheep is thrilling for the person that lost it.
However, a lost person who is found is a cause for rejoicing.

There is not only rejoicing here on earth, there is rejoicing in heaven as well.
Lost people matter to God.
Lost people are found by God because He never takes His eye off them for one-second.
Not one-second.

God allows lost people to cross our path.
People who do not know the Lord.
People who do not know the way.
People who pull up their bootstraps and try to do it all themselves.

They do not even know they are lost.
They think they are just self sufficient.
They think that even their salvation is something they can muster up on their own.
When we find such a lost person in an unexpected place we should delight.

We should delight, not in their lost-ness, but in the fact that they are now found.
God, in His sovereignty, allows our paths to cross for a reason.
We have the opportunity to talk to them and tell them about God.
We can tell them about God who seeks and saves the lost.

That is better than any lost coin or lost sheep.
That is better than putting your hand in your pocket and finding a ten dollar bill.
That is better than finding a lost bracelet in a boot on the floor of your closet.
That is better than finding coins in a pay phone or a coin machine return slot.

This is a person with a soul that matters to God.
God’s Son, Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life.
Jesus can lead the lost person back Home to the Father.
We have the privilege of leading them to Jesus.

We call our neighbors and friends and we rejoice.

2 responses to “Lost Things”

1. This hit home for me today… just before I read this I had just spent an hour searching for my car keys. The joy I felt when they finally were found was a rush of relief and thankfulness. Your blog helped me better understand how joyful God must be when we turn to Jesus everyday for everything we are thankful for! Amen!

   Reply

   • Pat,
     I am glad you found your keys after such a long search. I love when ordinary things help us to see God and understand Him better. Imagine His delight when one lost person comes to faith in Jesus. There is rejoicing here on earth and in heaven.
     Gina

     Reply