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Lost and Found

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." 

Luke 19:10

On Easter Sunday it was chilly and windy on Pensacola Beach, but Joe and I couldn't resist the sunrise on this special day. From our serene spot in the sand I could see a few hundred people gathered for a sunrise Easter service at the pier a short distance away. They were there for a long time, and part of me wished I was with them. Although the water was very cold, the baptisms continued for nearly an hour. I wanted to see their faces, and celebrate with them--the "lost" who had been found!

I was thinking about the significance of Christ's resurrection, and about how following Him has completely changed the course of my life, when I noticed a woman and two young children a few feet away. I watched the two children play with shiny, new toys--no doubt their Easter presents. Then I watched the mom get on her hands and knees and begin to play in the sand. I thought it was sweet of her to come out so early with her children on this Easter morning, and impressive that she would start to build a sandcastle in such cold weather. When I looked at the mom again several minutes later, she was still on her hands and knees. Quite some time had passed, yet she hadn't even begun to build. She was just kneeling there, passing her hands back on forth, patiently smoothing the sand. I suppose about 30 minutes went by when I heard her shout, "I found it! I found it!" Her children ran to her and embraced her as she put a shiny diamond ring on her finger. She raised her hands to heaven and gave thanks to the One who understands better than anyone the joy of finding that which was lost. Then she stood and danced a little jig, took a picture of the ring on her finger, and called someone who would rejoice with her. I wanted to run over there and tell her I was rejoicing with her, and thank her for living out the parable of Luke 15 for me on this Easter morning. I was touched by the goodness of my Savior for so many things, like meeting with me on the beach and allowing me to witness a miracle. I said a prayer of thanksgiving because this perfect stranger had found her ring! The "lost" had been found!

Much later that day, the sun warmed up the water enough that my sons and my daughter did a little snorkeling. About 30 minutes after they finished playing in the water, one of my sons realized he had lost his special pocket knife in the Gulf. In no time at all he was out there looking for it, and I was praying he would find it. Finding anything in the Gulf is nearly impossible, especially after 30 minutes has come and gone; but not today. It didn't take long before, once again, the "lost" had been found! 

Jesus said, "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

God Is Not Dead!

Last year, an anonymous coward painted "God is dead" (among other things) on my house. My first reaction was heartache that someone hated my family so much they would vandalize our home. Then I felt disgust at the vulgarity of what they wrote. Finally, I became angry. How dare anyone use my property to express lies and vulgarities about God?

I can't find words to describe the loneliness and grief I felt that week. But then two total strangers stopped by on their way home from church. They said they wanted to show us God's love by not only offering to buy some paint, but also by painting over the graffiti. Their sincerity and kind offer soothed our aching hearts.

Several months have come and gone since then, and the graffiti was erased with several layers of fresh paint. The graffiti "artist" didn't stick around long enough for us to meet him, but I like to think this Newsboys song was released as an answer to the graffiti artist's cowardly statement. I pray he has an opportunity to hear it and believe it!