The parable of the Lost Coin is actually the second in a series of three parables.
SCENE: Jesus is surrounded by tax-gatherers and sinners. They know they are “bad,” yet they press in to hear all that Jesus has to say. Also in attendance are Pharisees and scribes, who are their typical snooty selves, questioning Jesus and his allowing Bad guys to be in his presence.
The first of the three parables Jesus tells in succession is the story of the Lost Sheep; the second is the Lost Coin, followed by the Prodigal Son.
We have a picture of that which is lost: humanity. And we have an illustration of Jesus’ attitude and activities in the midst of derelict humanity.
The sheep is lost through stupidity. The coin is lost through carelessness. The son is lost through deliberate, self-centered pride.
I don’t know about you, but I can see myself in all three parables: I’ve sinned because I’ve done something stupid, I’ve been careless of decisions I’ve made, and then I’ve even willfully known what I was about to do was wrong, wrong, wrong, yet I did it anyway.
Next posting I will tell you about a very special Lost Coin. You won’t want to miss out hearing about it! Check back within the week!
In the meantime, which parable do you most relate to?
A sure-fire recipe for failure to make positive changes in my life is for me to make New Year’s Resolutions. Why is this so? Hmmm, if I could figure it out, then I could fix it!
What if I changed it to New Year’s Intentions? Well, you know about the road to hell being paved with good intentions . . . not going down that road!
But what about New Year’s Possibilities? Now that sounds doable! No pressure to succeed . . . and because it doesn't involve goals, exactly, I can't fail. Possibilities seem intriguing. Kind of like the “what if” game. I could ask myself, “Is it possible to do this, or to change that?” Then if I attempt the possibility and can’t pull it off, I won’t feel like I’ve failed. Rather, I can tell myself, “Well, that didn’t work, so what if I try this?”
Yep, I think I’ll toss New Year’s Resolution making and go with New Year’s Possibilities. The possibilities are endless . . .
It’s 11 am. My office window is wide open. The cool air chills my warm skin after a workout on Wii Fit. I lean back, kick up my feet onto my desk, and grab Stephen King’s On Writing. Immersed in this prolific writer’s memoir, something in the back of my mind niggles me to awareness of the quiet. The stillness draws my attention like a bellowing foghorn. Car and trucks and milk tankers typically rush by at 45 mph this time of morning, but not today.
It’s Labor Day. And few laborers are out an about. I should be working on one project or another, but no. I’m going to rest from my labors and enjoy the peace, the calm, the quiet that will be shattered tomorrow morning by the big yellow kid transporter that rumbles by at 7:26 am, signaling the end of summer and all its fun. Time to get to work.
They are the driving force behind great acts of courage and daring as well as the most heinous crimes man can imagine. They bring out the best in us and challenge us to greater heights. They bring out the worst in us and dare us to violate our core values.
Sex. Power. Control. These are catalysts for forming and merging relationships. And then there’s love. We can’t help but dive into a relationship head first when we’re crazy in love.
Society runs on relationships—an economic stimulus no government can manipulate. Our country is strong when godly relationships surge. But when relationships are built on greed, mistrust, deception, our country suffers and stumbles.
A successful relationship, no matter if it’s business or personal, formal or familial, is built on one simple principle our mothers taught us when we were toddlers: To have a friend, be a friend.
My Son, John by Kathi Macias is a story of Liz’s struggle amid the horror of the brutal murder of her mother at the hand of her son. In one act of viciousness, her idyllic life is turned upside down and shaken to the core. Her life is now measured by “before—before her son, John, killed his grandmother, before their lives were shattered and shredded by the mother/grandmother’s murder and John’s subsequent arrest and confession. Each day brings greater and deeper pain. Each day feels more hopeless than the one before.
But when Liz’s fractured world collides with God’s grace, she encounters the power of God to unconditionally love her son.
Though this is a novel, if you’ve ever had a prodigal son or daughter and you are standing at the gait awaiting his or her return, this story takes on a realism that touches the soul and long-held pain a parent experiences. But Macias doesn’t leave her readers there. We learn with Liz that though the troubles and solutions are beyond our ability to cope with much less solve, they are not beyond the heart and control of our heavenly Father.
Journey with the Peterson family through their nightmare as they find forgiveness and hope.
