We were riding in the London Underground yesterday at rush hour. There were people everywhere, jostling each other, running from point a to point b, scrambling to get out or to get in. We were apart of it, just trying to survive the throngs of people.
As we were walking along, someone dropped a 50 pence coin. But nobody stopped to pick it up.
Now, losing 50p isn’t the end of the world. It’s close to 75 cents in American currency. You can’t even buy a bottle of pop with that. It certainly wasn’t important enough for anyone to stop, either the people who lost it or others who saw it. It was more important to keep rushing, keep moving, keep racing to escape the Underground without being trampled.
But it reminded me of another story where someone lost a coin and wouldn’t rest until she found it.
Today’s verses are Luke 15:8-10.
“Or 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 neighbors 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.”
This is a story Jesus is telling, and it always resonates with me because I’ve been there. I’ve been that person who lost my wallet or my keys or something valuable to me and I’ve turned my house upside down to find it. And when I do find it, there is great rejoicing.
But I can’t tell you that I’ve turned my house upside down looking for a single coin. Now, I know that this woman’s coins were worth more than any of mine, but the concept is there. She has 10 and she only lost one. Is that one still important?
Yes, apparently.
To God, each person is important. Every individual person in the world is as important as the next. There’s nobody who isn’t important to God. People are so important to God that even if 9 of them belong to Him, He won’t stop searching for that tenth one.
Are you having one of those days (or weeks) where it feels like you don’t matter or where it feels like what you’re doing doesn’t matter to God? Well, think again. He cares about you–enough to search for you when you’re lost, even if you’re the only one who is. That’s personal, individual, unconditional love, and He offers it freely to anyone who asks for it.
So maybe that little silver coin on the Victoria Underground station floor didn’t matter to anyone. But you matter to God, and He’ll never walk off and leave you behind.
Always Peachy 