God Goes After the One

“‘Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’” Luke 15:8-10 NKJV

In a story titled “WOMAN DESPERATE TO FIND MISSING ENGAGEMENT RING LOST WHILE RUNNING NYC HALF MARATHON” published earlier this week, it was reported that a woman who set a personal record running the NYC United Airlines Half Marathon is looking for her engagement ring she lost along the way.

Isabel Lahn-Schroeder, a social worker at Lenox Hill hospital, said she lost her engagement ring along the route, likely somewhere around Central Park South.

She described the ring as having multiple stones in the shape of a flower.

The pride and joy she felt after completing the NYC Half quickly turned to horror when she realized the engagement ring she received on Halloween was missing.

Schroder says she retraced her steps. She went to lost and found and even to the police precinct, but to no avail.

The ring is a family heirloom that had been passed down in her fiancé's family for generations.

The soon-to-be bride said she has a pretty good idea of where she may have lost the ring.

Now she's hoping that by putting her story out there, perhaps a good Samaritan will help reconnect her with the precious ring.

And, you know, in the same way Isabel was desperate to find her ring (even imploring strangers to aid in the search to reconnect her with the lost item), the Bible gives us the parable of the lost coin in which a woman lost one of her ten silver coins and went on an exhaustive search to find it. Although she had nine left, we can see by her lighting a lamp and carefully sweeping the house, that the woman was desperate to find the one coin she had lost. It was that precious to her.

And her diligent search paid off. Because when she finally found the one coin she had lost, she was so overwhelmed with happiness at her hard-fought-for discovery that she called “her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’” 

"for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry." Luke 15:24

This story illustrates God's intense, personal love for individuals and His joy over the repentance of one sinner... of one person who "was lost and is found."  It emphasizes the fact that every person is priceless to God no matter where they are. Unlike the lost sheep that wandered, the coin was lost in the house, perhaps neglected even. 

You see, a person can be "lost" even within the church or a good environment, yet God continues to search for that one person. And when that one person is found, "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." God is the Seeker and Saver of the one who has gone astray. Does that fill your heart with joy or what? 

So, while God is the seeker of the lost, let us never forget that He uses believers to aid in the search and recovery mission. Which means we must always be ready and willing to do our part in "reconnecting" the lost with the Lord. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God who never gives up searching for and saving the one who is lost. Lord, help us to aid in this search and recovery mission that we might rejoice alongside You over the one who is found. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!

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