The lost £20

Yesterday I lost £20 :(. I had been given £45 after setting up a castle for my wife’s bouncy castle business. There were two £20 notes, some coins and a signed terms and conditions form. I was parked next to where I was setting up so I left the three bits of paper on the front seat of the car with the pound coins.

As I was driving out of the school gate a few minutes later I noticed that the signed paper was there and the pound coins as well but that there were no notes. I pulled up (it’s never a good idea to look for things in your car while you are driving) and had a quick look and found this £20 next to the hand brake. I couldn’t see the other note but I assumed it was under the seat so I drove home where my wife and I searched the car thoroughly and cleaned the interior in the process.

It was boiling hot and I felt like giving up but £20 is a lot of money. If it was just £1, I would have stopped after a quick look. After a thorough search it dawned on me that the note I had found had been blown by the wind and it was possible the other one had blown out of the car window (both front car windows were open). Ironically I was aware of how breezy it was because I had taken extra sandbags to anchor the castle with on the school playground because it was windy.

Jesus told a story of a lost coin:

Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15.8-10)

The coin was valuable enough for the woman to search for. The woman pursued it with everything she had and she did not give up until she found it and then she was so excited that she had to celebrate. The point is that we are important enough to Jesus for him to search for and to reach out to us. Amazing isn’t it that God believes that we are worth something! When we turn to him there is a party in heaven because God has regained something that he loves (us lot!) God is excited because he wants to know us and also because he wants to save and rescue us from our sin that separates us from him.

When I returned to collect the castle I asked if anyone had handed in a £20 note which they hadn’t :(. I had a search of the edges of the school playground to see if I could find it. I had already started writing this blog and I was as excited about finding the money to provide the happy ending as I was about finding it so we could spend it. It is not within my power to effectively search the school grounds and surrounding area but the good news is that God is not limited in what he can see, he never stops searching for us as he calls us to follow him. My Tracey’s £20 is lost but we don’t have to be :).

Jesus is searching, how will we respond?

Will we acknowledge that we fall short of God’s perfection? Will we repent (this means to change our mind or to turn around) by turning from our sin and then making a choice to live God’s way with his help?

Will we make Jesus our Lord by inviting him to lead us through life?

God never stops searching for us. By becoming human and giving his life as a sacrifice, Jesus has made it possible for us to be found and treasured by God  both now and forever. Now that is something worth celebrating!