When I was a child, I was raised in a rather affluent home. I wasn’t necessarily spoiled, but I had pretty much everything I wanted. Except for one thing: I wanted a pet. Unfortunately for me, my parents drew the line at a cat or a dog. Nonetheless, I continued to hound my parents until one day, my mother took me to a pet store and told me I could pick out a pair of turtles. It was the best day in my life!

Those tiny turtles soon grew. They appeared happy eating their food, but they didn’t seem to like their small quarters. They much preferred to be walk freely around the apartment. Sometimes, if the weather was nice, I would let my turtles out onto the balcony so that they could get fresh air.

One such time, I turned my back on them for only a moment or two; but when my attention again went to my prized pets, they had vanished. I was heartbroken. I searched for that pair of turtles for weeks. I looked everywhere; but there wasn’t a single sign of my precious animals. I may have been the only one who mourned my two little pets, but I never stopped searching for them.

The Bible tells three back-to-back stories about being lost, and all in Luke 15: The parable of the lost sheep (See Luke 15:1-7); the parable of the lost coin (See Luke 15:8-10); and the parable of the lost son, aka the prodigal son (See Luke 15:11-32). There are important differences in these three stories, which will be highlighted in this and the next two upcoming Friday devotionals in the devotional series, “The Lost”.

Today we will highlight the second of the stories, the parable of the lost coin: “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15: 8 NIV).

A lady has 10 coins and she loses one. We aren’t told what denomination the coin was, nonetheless, we see the owner diligently searching for it. What is interesting here is that the coin, itself, didn’t know it was lost. It could have cared less that someone was looking for it…

I believe my turtles were a little like that lost coin. They didn’t know they were lost and they could have cared less that I was looking for them.

This is a beautiful example of one category of lost people. When you think about the vast masses of people who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, we can easily see that a large majority of these don’t know they are lost and have no idea anyone is looking for them. We’ve all met these kinds of people: “What? You’re praying for me? Save your breath! I’m doing just fine!”

Nonetheless, even though the coin—and my turtles!—didn’t know they were lost and didn’t care whether or not they were being sought, the woman was looking for the coin with the same fervency as when I was looking for my turtles! Why? Not because the turtles—or the coin—wanted to be found, and certainly not because the coin—or the turtles—held great value … But because the woman—and me!—valued what was lost! It is the same way with God. It doesn’t matter if the lost person recognizes the need for Jesus or not. He or she is of value to Jesus, and Jesus will drop everything to seek them!

One day, months after my turtles disappeared, I went out on the balcony, and there were my turtles! They looked kind of hungry, but they were otherwise alive and healthy! Believe me, there was great rejoicing in my house that night! I called all of my family and told everyone, and even though none of them particularly cared about my turtles, my excited enthusiasm was contagious, and soon my family was rejoicing with me!

It was no different with the woman who lost one of her ten silver coins: “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’” (Luke 15:9 NIV).

The even better news is this: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10 NIV).

Why would Jesus go to all this trouble for someone who doesn’t know they are lost and doesn’t even care? Because He: “… is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)! God doesn’t want to spend eternity without us! He loves us too much for that! And so He patiently seeks the lost until the day when we draw our final breath on Earth.

What category of the lost are the ones around you? Are they lost coins? Lost turtles? Not knowing they are lost and certainly not caring? Or perhaps you are the lost coin… Either way, Jesus is seeking the lost “coins” and “turtles”, and He won’t stop until your physical body is no longer drawing breath! And the day you turn to Him will be a day of great rejoicing, for: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (John 15:10 NIV).

If you have never given your heart to Jesus, why wait? Do it today! Click here!

And if you are the one trying to lead the lost “coins” to Jesus, remember: Just keep praying! God wants them saved even more than you do!

Please join us next week for a look at another category of lost people in, “The Case of the Disappearing Cat: Seeking the Lost, Part 2”!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries

(To assess the entire “Seeking the Lost” devotional series, please click here!)