Reading: Luke 15:8-10
“Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”
In the last passage, we saw how Jesus was teaching that love for God is shown in our love for others, especially for those who are far from Him.
For the Pharisees, the most important thing was protecting their purity; that was their excuse for rejecting others.
But when God commands us to be holy, He doesn’t tell us to isolate ourselves, but rather to be light.
The woman in the parable experiences great happiness because she finds a lost coin, something very valuable to her (today a coin is of limited value, but in those times it was very valuable.)
In this passage, Jesus is teaching something that the Pharisees struggle to comprehend. The Holy God, the Creator of all things, insistently and lovingly seeks out the sinners.
God, the same God that we all have rejected, seeks us with love. And the heart that repents, seeks God, loves Him, and turns away from its path of darkness brings joy to the heart of the Father… And a celebration in Heaven!
We can witness that love that pursues us in the calling of Abraham, the rescue of the nation of Israel, the mercy of God towards His people throughout all of the Old Testament. Finally, it is perfectly expressed in Jesus Christ, who became flesh and gave His life on the cross… for us…
MEDITATE: One way of bringing glory to our Lord is sharing that love that He has poured out on us… Who has the Lord placed in your life so that you can share with them who He is?

Translated by: Emily Stader