Luke 15:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Luke 15:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 15Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. Verse 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." Verse 3So he told them this parable: Verse 4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? Verse 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. Verse 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Verse 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Verse 8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? Verse 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Verse 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Devotion
A friend’s mother lived in a kind of rough neighborhood. Her children worried about her. Drug dealers and prostitutes roamed the street outside her house. When these people would stop by the house after the woman became ill and her children were caring for her, the children would not let them see their mother. However, when the woman died, the drug dealers and prostitutes came to the funeral home and told her children how much their mother had meant to them, how she had cared about them, fed them, and gave them something to drink. They in turn cared about her and would go to the store to get things for her. Were any of the lost found? I do not know, but I do know that they experienced the love of the Shepherd, who was and is looking for them.
Prayer
Dear God, when we are lost, help us to listen for your voice, receive your messengers, and return to you. When we encounter the lost, grant us the grace to extend your love, your care and concern, that they might come to know you, hear your voice and turn to you. May we also recognize and appreciate the grace and the gift to us those we might see only as lost can be.
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