Have you ever seen a rare gold coin? Maybe you’ve even had
an opportunity to hold one in your hands. The first distinguishing feature you
notice is its weight, as they just have that “Hey, I’m worth something” feel to
them. Next, if it’s an old European gold coin, you might notice the image of a
king and some marking denoting denomination. The thing about coins is that, not
only do they have their original value but also an intrinsic metal value based
on current market prices, and of course an inflated worth based on rarity.
But what if you were showing your rare, old gold coin to
friends on the beach when someone running along the sand bumps into you,
knocking the coin out of your hands and into the sand. Now it’s lost, and
although it has value, it is out-of-circulation. It has the name of the King on
it, a measured value but as it sits lost somewhere in the sand, it is really of
no use or worthless.
In the 15th chapter of the gospel of Luke, Jesus
tells three parables that deal with a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son.
While all three stories are different, they actually were designed to be linked
together to explain the bigger concept of God’s grace.
In the first story, a shepherd has one hundred sheep. The
group of ninety-nine sheep is all together safe; however, one sheep is lost.
The shepherd then leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go out looking for the one
lost sheep, and continues searching until he finds it. When he does finds it,
He rejoices, although he suffered greatly while searching for it. This story is
a word picture of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who went out looking for lost sheep
and ends up suffering to the point of death on a cross but rejoices because he
ransomed us from death unto life!
In the last story, a father has two sons. The younger son
demands his inheritance to see the world. He ends up squandering his entire
fortune on the lusts of the world. Eventually, he takes a job feeding swine
where, while eating the pig’s feed, he realizes that the servants back at his
father’s house have more than enough food, clothing and a place to sleep. The
son heads home to ask his father for forgiveness. The father sees his son
returning home from a distance and runs out to meet him. They exchange hugs and
kisses as the son gets a new robe, ring and the servants kill the fatted calf
for a celebration feast. The older son is angry that his father has forgiven
the younger son.
You see, while the coin was lost it was out-of-circulation
and of no use in the world, or basically worthless. Indeed, it had value as a
coin; it even had the image of the King minted on its face but it was lost in
the dirt of the world. The coin was not in circulation where it was meant to
pass from someone’s hand into another’s and used for wages, to purchase food,
or other commodities.
In the story of the prodigal son, even though he left his
father’s house he didn’t cease being his father’s son. Even though he spent his
entire inheritance on lustful living, he didn’t cease to be his father’s son.
The older son was angry because he had kept his father’s laws and stayed to
work in his father’s house while he watched his younger brother leave and loose
his inheritance. But when the younger son repents and returns to the father,
the older son is angry that they killed the fatted calf to celebrate his
brother’s return.
Don’t you see how we are all like the lost sheep, the lost
coin and the wayward son when we are not abiding in Jesus? Look at the coin story again, if we are not
in service for the Lord, then we are like the lost coin which has value and the
markings of the king but is out-of-circulation.
Won’t you examine your own life and see if you are lost,
out-of-circulation and need to return to the Father’s house? If you confess and
ask for forgiveness the Father will welcome you back with open arms!
No comments:
Post a Comment