FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “99+1”

Begin your time together by reading Luke 15:3-10.  Sit at Jesus’ feet as He shares two parables with your family.

These two stories share a common theme.  In both, the main character has lost something, something significant enough to warrant an almost-frenzied search.  Then once the missing item has been found, the searcher-turned-finder invites friends and neighbors to come and celebrate the victory.  It’s that big a deal!

Put yourself in the shoes of these characters.  Can you think of a time you lost something, something important?  Something that caused a teat-the-house-apart kind of search?  Homework?  Keys?  Bills?  Birthday money?  I have a gift card from Christmas I still can’t find and it’s maddening.  It has to be here somewhere, right?

Our family watched “Home Alone” together for the first time this past Christmas.  I hadn’t seen it in at least a decade, and I found the experience both fun and illuminating.  Fun because my children laughed so hard during the booby trap seen, I thought they might need a change of clothes.  But illuminating because it was the first time I’d watched it as a mom.  I found my heart breaking for this mother separated from her son.  I identified with the panic she must have felt, not knowing if he was safe, not knowing if he was scared, not being able to explain things and offer the peace and calm that all mothers yearn to give their kids.  I mean, my heart skips a beat when I lost track of one of mine at the grocery store.

Try to imagine losing someONE instead of some thing.  I don't mean someone who’s passed away, but someone being missing, someone important.  You can’t locate them.  You don’t know where they are.  You can’t reach them on the phone and no one has seen or heard from them.  Can you think of all the things you’d do to try to find them?  To try to get to wherever they are or get them back where you are?  Can you imagine stopping your search before you tracked them down?

This is exactly what Jesus was talking about.  He really didn’t care about sheep and coins; He was talking about people, people lost from God.  God is a father who has lost not one, but many children—and he’s frantic to find them.  Like Kevin’s mom, he is doing whatever he can to get each person “home” with him.  No wonder he throws a party when one of his kids comes home to a relationship with him!  It’s a huge deal to be reunited with a missing child!

Think about someone you know who fits this description: they’re “lost” from God.  Don’t think of them as being rebellious or stubborn or ignorant (even though they may be all of those things).  Instead, think of them as the Father does.  Lost.  This poor person has gone missing from Dad.  As you interact with them this week, what can you do to help them find their way back home to him?  Look for opportunities to let them know their Father is looking for them…passionately.

Take time to pray for each person, that these sweet, lost “lambs” would soon be found.  Then agree with Jesus that when it happens, you will join the heavenly party!!