Look What I Found

T

he problem with basements is that they become the repositories for all the things we no longer use but don’t have the heart to discard.  Does this sound familiar to any of you?  How many of you out there have waded through the sea of endless boxes and containers in your basements looking for something you just had to have?  How many of you vowed never to “junk up” your basements only to break that promise within a week after making it?  How many of you have stored items in your basement, fully intending to throw them out within a couple of days and then never seeming to get around to that task?

Of course, there is another side to this story.  There are those times when you find a hidden treasure buried in your basement.  You might be looking for something else when you come across one of your long-lost possessions that you had totally forgotten about.  When you find it, you forget your original reason for visiting the basement and focus all your attention on your new-found treasure.  It might be a piece of clothing, an old toy, a card, or a piece of jewelry discarded many years ago.  However, when you locate it, wonderful memories flood your mind and a sense of excitement and happiness fills your heart.

I remember having such an experience in the fall of 1990.  My brother and I purchased an old office building in town and we spent 18 months renovating it.  Finally, the day came for us to move from our parents’ home over to our house.  We were only four or five blocks away from them but it seemed to be much further.  After moving the essential items and installing them in our new home, we had to address the matter of the basement.  It took several trips but finally, we moved all our important stuff from mom and dad’s and stored it in our own basement.

One afternoon, I was in the basement looking for something when I spied a small, black ring box.  I picked it up and recognized it as the box that held my college ring when it arrived.  I hadn’t seen that box in years and never thought it would end up in my basement.  When I opened it, however, I received a wonderful surprise. There, inside that box, was my high school class ring.  Several years earlier, I had misplaced that ring and had given up all hope of finding it.  Now, there it was, in beautiful condition, looking just like it did the last time I saw it.

I put the ring on my finger, dropped the box, ran upstairs, and made several phone calls.  I called my mom, I called my grandmother, I called one of my aunts, and I even called my dad at work to tell him I had found my ring.  They probably thought I had lost my mind, but I was so happy and I wanted everyone to know I found that ring.  I was so ecstatic and I wanted to share that exuberance with everyone around me.  Although it was just a ring, it was very important and precious to me.  Finding it again was one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Jesus told several stories that stressed the happiness that accompanies finding something that was lost.  However, Jesus’ stories weren’t concerned with material things.  Instead, they were concerned men’s souls and the happiness that accompanies someone accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  Three of these stories can be found in Luke 15 and involve the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coins, and the lost son. 

It is the second parable, the parable of the lost coins that is the focus of our attention today.  The story is very short and matter-of-fact but its implication and truth have far-reaching ramifications for us today.  The story is recorded in Luke 15:8-9, "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.”

Please take notice of that last line in the verse.  Jesus said the woman called her friends and neighbors and invites them to a celebration all because she found her lost coin. She was happy and she wanted those around her, her family and friends, to share in her happiness. Her excitement and joy was such that she couldn’t contain it and she shared it with those around her.  This is the same thing that happens when someone accepts Jesus as the savior and the Lord of their lives.  Just after this passage of scripture, Jesus says that there is more excitement over one soul who is saved than over all those who do not need to repent.  The angels in Heaven shout and are happy that another one of God’s children has been found and has come home.  They just can’t keep quiet about it.

I remember that day in my basement like it was yesterday.  That ring is now sitting on my dresser as a constant reminder of how wonderful it is to find the things that were lost and to restore them to their proper place.  This is exactly God’s perspective when someone accepts Jesus and is saved from their sins.  God fills Heaven with shouting, and laughter, and joy because another one has found the way home.  God knows what it’s like to find something that has been lost for many years.  He felt the same about me when I accepted Jesus and he felt the same about you when you became a Christian.  The portals of Heaven rang with the laughter of angels as you accepted Jesus.

Today, the sounds of rejoicing still echo through the streets of heaven.  Have the angels shouted and rejoiced over you?  Have you experienced the true joy that comes with accepting Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord?  If not or if you know someone who hasn’t, won’t you share the good news of God’s redeeming love and salvation with them today?  The party is just beginning!