Our family participated in a giant yard sale on Saturday. Families from our H.O.P.E. service group teamed up together to raise money for facility improvements at Urban Outreach down in Washington D.C. As part of the sale, each family gathered stuff from their own homes and brought it to a local shopping center where many hundreds of people came to find a deal.
Our family spent Friday night going through our house finding items to sell. We found old clothes, old bikes, some books, some games, and other odds and ends. I went out to the shed to find a few items there. When I was done in the shed, I locked the door with our one and only shed key. I proceeded to a few other locations in an attempt to find things before we loaded up our cars with the items to sell.
In the process of all this, I apparently misplaced the key to the shed. I thought that I had returned the key to its normal space, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I think we realized it was missing Saturday morning before we left for the sale. I looked a few places before we left, and I scoured the house when we came back from the sale later that afternoon. After looking high and low, I realized that our key may be gone for good.
As I was reflecting on our lost key yesterday, a story from the Bible came to mind:
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she 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
The woman in the story throws a party after finding her lost coin. Maybe that’s a good idea. If we find our key, maybe we should have a party. What do you think?
Actually, the story is referencing something far more meaningful than a key or even a coin. The story is meant to remind us how exciting it should be when someone returns to Christ after a “lost” journey. Yesterday, our family had an opportunity to see this fleshed out when we attended the baptism of seven individuals who decided to believe, repent, and be baptized. Do you want to talk about a reason for celebration? This is it!
Getting back to our shed key, it still hasn’t shown up. I figured out a way to get into the shed in the meantime, but I think that I’ll have to cut the lock off and get a new one. Oh well. If nothing else, my lost shed key taught me some lessons along the way. First, always put the shed key back in its location right away when you lock up the shed. Second, God cares way more about people than shed keys.
What have you lost recently? Did you find it? If so, how did it feel?
Where are you on your journey? Are you lost? Or has there been a celebration for your return?