When We Are Lost

Good week to all you friends, family, and people who stumble across this blog! (I figure you can say good week like you would say good morning or good day, right?)
This has certainly been a wonderful week for me and I have enjoyed the ups and downs and especially I have enjoyed the lessons learned.
In class this week we studied the Lord's parables in the book of Luke. Let me share a couple verse from them: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost...", "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lost one piece...", and "And he said, A certain man had two sons..." Luke 15:4, 8, 11. Of course these verses are not the whole parable and I hope that you know the rest of each parable especially of the prodigal son. We know very well the beautiful lesson of repentance that each one of these parables teach and I am so grateful for the while range of application that parables in general have. May I offer another application of these parables that I learned this week. Take a look at the ratio of each parable as well as the manner of finding what is lost. According to the lost sheep, one out of hundred of the sheep (could we not say one of us) gets lost just by distraction. The lost coin says that one out of ten of us will be lost due to neglect of the owner. The prodigal son tells us that one of two of us will act out in rebellion against the father. What a beautiful metaphor when we find ourselves getting lost. We can always ask which of the three was the reason that we got lost. There is also the lesson on how we should treat people who get lost for each of these three reasons. When one is lost like a wandering sheep, we actively go find them and bring them back. When one is lost due to neglect, we sweep the entire house to make sure every corner is clean and the coin can be found. When the son acts out of rebellion against you or God, let him be. Let him come home on his own terms and repentance and, love him and celebrate him when he comes home. What would have happened if the father of the Prodigal son when searching for him like the lost sheep or the coin? Would the son not have attacked out in a more rebellious matter and maybe not have come back home? There are gems of truth that can be found in the scriptures and sometimes it can be very hard to find different perspectives in the scriptures on your own. That is why we are a church and are willing to listen to every principle taught by the spirit.

I hope this helps with one spiritual aspect in your life!

Devan Alder