As I was flying back home from a quick, emergency trip to California, I couldn’t help but notice how popular cellular phones have become. It seemed that every other passenger had one of them permanently glued to his/her ear. What did people do before cell phones were invented? Nowadays, it seems that people can’t get by without them! Even though my wife and I also depend on a cell phone, it seems that we continue to be in the minority. We only have one such device to share among family members, where most families seem to have two or more!

I originally purchased our phone so that my wife would have a way to contact someone in case of emergency on the road, but because this device can effortlessly send text messages around the world, it soon became a favorite means of communication while traveling. That’s why we had our cellular phone with us last summer when we made our trek to New Brunswick. We had just returned to our campground, bone tired after an exciting sightseeing tour throughout the city of St. John, New Brunswick (Getting lost is exhausting! See “Lost in St. John”). As we were getting ready for bed, my wife seemed to be troubled by something. Now, this is quite unusual, as I am the one who generally does enough worrying for the entire family! But there she was, diligently searching the entire tent trailer.

“Did you lose something?” I asked.

“I can’t seem to find the cell phone!” she answered, in far too calm of a voice.

My anxiety immediately skyrocketed. “Where did you see it last?”

“I don’t know,” was the undesired response.

In a matter of seconds, the entire family had banded together into a search party. We searched inside the trailer, outside the trailer, inside the van, in the restroom area, in the laundry room, you name it! But it was nowhere to be found.

We were starting to despair (okay, I had started to despair the moment my wife said she couldn’t find the phone!) When one of the boys had a great idea: “Why doesn’t one of us go up to the camp office, find a payphone, and call the cell number? The rest of us can stay here at camp and listen for it to ring!”

“Good idea!” chimed in the rest of the family. This way, if it were anywhere at our camp, we would be sure to find it.

My wife, always the one needing to be “doing” something, volunteered to run up to the camp office and place the phone call. I was selected to remain in the van, while the boys were positioned one inside the trailer, one outside. By this time, even though we were up north where the sun doesn’t set until quite late in the summer, it was already pitch dark. In fact, it was so dark inside the van, that when I briefly closed my eyes, I involuntarily dozed off! (Remember that hectic day of trying to find our way in St. John?) All of a sudden, I woke up to the welcome beep of our cell phone. It seems to be coming from somewhere in the back of the van, and I jumped out, ran around, and opened the hatch. There it was, buried beneath some dirty laundry!

Unfortunately, I didn’t actually “answer” the phone, so my wife had no way of knowing it had been found! She tried calling a second time, but then she gave up, and her hike back to the trailer was minus the usual spring in her step. Until she got over the crest of the hill, that is! There she was met by two grinning, barefoot runners: “We found the phone!” they cried before they were even close enough to be heard. “We found the phone!”

Our cell phone was lost, and although we were all dead tired, none of us could rest until it had been located. Then, when it was found, there was great rejoicing. Doesn’t this sound like another story? “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.’ 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 NIV)

It is amazing how much effort and energy we are willing to spend searching for one of our lost possessions, however how much effort are we willing to put forth for those who are lost in this world? And what about the lost ones close to us?

Eternity can be at any of our front doors before we know it. In fact, my emergency trip to California had been to attend the funeral of my closest in-law. He was just 38 years of age. How could such a thing have happened to someone still so young? During the funeral however, the pastor shared some of my friend’s spiritual views. This led to four grieving people giving their heart to Jesus during the altar call! It brought some comfort to those of us who were mourning our loss.

What if one of the ones you are close to were to die today? Would they be ready to face eternity? It is true that we cannot force Jesus onto others. Even Jesus never tried to do this. But have we tried to at least make them aware of Him?

Our cell phone will eventually cease to function, and we will simply replace it without mourning its loss. However, will we have to hopelessly grieve the loved ones who were never given the opportunity to share in the joy, peace and love that bubbles forth from knowing Jesus?

Rob Chaffart