It is a moment of panic. You reach inside your purse where you have put five $20 bills — and you only find four. Immediately you empty the purse out and go through every pocket and every corner looking for your lost money. It really is not comforting to have someone remind you that you still have four. You want to find the lost money. It is the same reasoning behind the lost and found rooms at schools, stores, or churches. Things get lost and people are desperate to find them.

People get lost too. I don’t mean that you need better travel directions. But that you need direction — a reason for living. You hear the phrase “lost boys” concerning war orphans. Or” lost souls” in reference to young people with no sense of purpose. Lost is even used in a spiritual sense to indicate those who have broken their relationship with God because of their sin.

Lost things matter and we want to find them. Watch how people react when they find the lost item. Observe children who find their jacket in the lost and found. Or adults who find the lost money. There will be big smiles, shouts of joy, and sometimes tears of happiness.

Jesus told stories about how important lost things are. He told of how people will do anything to find a lost coin or a lost sheep. He pointed out how happy everyone is when the lost thing is found.

He also told a story about a lost son. One who finally found his way back home. He told it so you would know how important you are to God. He told it so you would know how much God loves you. God will do anything to restore us to a relationship with him. In fact, he did. He sent His Son from heaven to earth to find us and make a way back to God.

God hunts for lost people until they are found.
If you are one of those lost souls away from God, then please know that God is seeking you. He sent a Son to find you and bring you back to him. I can help you to be found. I can help you know how to start angels in heaven rejoicing over you. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org. Or visit our website at www.hopeforlife.org.