Even one lost coin

SCRIPTURE:

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Luke 15:8

OBSERVATION:

In the parable of the lost coin, we see the heart of God in desiring every sinner to be saved, not even willing that one should be lost. Although the woman still had nine coins, the bulk of her possessions, the way she went about looking for the lost one shows how precious the remaining coin was to her.  

The image of the woman lighting the lamp and sweeping the house gives us a powerful picture of the thrust and method of evangelism. Wherever true Christians meet anywhere and everywhere, we light up lamps. Jesus after all called us the light of the world. Churches, cell groups, marketplace fellowships, wherever Christians meet to worship and pray and hear the Word, all create pockets of light across the land. Some lights are brighter while some are less so, but every light is precious, and is a potential place that sinners can come to and find the joy of knowing Christ!

The imagery of the woman sweeping the house tells us that we too are to sweep our spheres of influence for lost souls who may respond. We don’t know who will respond or when they will respond, but we are to continue sweeping, while shining what little light we have. Most of the sweeping could be in vain, simply brushing aside cobwebs or going over the same spot again and again. However, if even one soul could be saved, all the effort would be infinitely precious, as even one soul saved from the horrors of hell would be worth a lifetime of searching.

APPLICATION:

How precious every single soul is to God. There is the story of a little boy throwing starfish back into the sea from the beach. An old man asked him, “There are thousands of starfish, what difference does it make?”. The boy smiled and said “A difference to this one”, and threw that one back into the sea. It is the same in God’s eyes. Though there are millions and millions of people all over the world, every single soul that turns to Him and is saved is infinitely precious to Him and to the soul himself. If Father sees every single individual that way, how much more effort should we put in towards shining our light and sweeping for souls to be saved?

Likewise, we should not grow weary or lose heart if our ministry or service does not yield many salvations. Instead, we should thank God graciously for every single soul that we have helped touch for him, and continue to ask for His grace to continue shining our light always praying that God may help us bring even one more to His salvation. Even at his dying breath, a great man continued to pray “One more, just one more for Jesus”. That too should be our attitude, not resting on our laurels or being discouraged by past results, but to keep looking forward, and seeking to help bring one more, just one more to Jesus.

PRAYER:

Abba Father, how precious each soul is to You! How the heavens rejoice over even a single sinner who repents. Help us share that great love You have for people, dear Lord. Help us have that same compassion, that same passion to see others come to know You. Give us that single-mindedness we pray, Lord, to be always on the lookout, wherever we go, to even help save just one more for You. How precious every single soul is Lord! Help us work with You to bring more and more into Your kingdom, even one at a time. Bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.