Listening for the Call

By Cheri Cowell –

It never fails. When we are upstairs and the phone rings, it is always downstairs. And, you guessed it, when it rings and we’re downstairs, it is always upstairs. We should set up a video camera to film us when the phone rings. We are so funny, running around looking under things, behind things, and shouting to others, “Where is it?” We bought one of those cordless two-phone systems thinking it would be easier to have one always where we needed it. But it never seems to be where we need it. Sometimes the phone is hidden so well that we’ve had to use the locator button on the base, which rings and rings until we eventually find it. I must admit, if it is in some strange location it was probably my fault.

In Palestine, they shared a tradition of presenting ten silver coins to their women as a gift when they were married. Those coins not only offered monetary value, they also held sentimental value. So, if one was lost and later found, there would be much rejoicing. God feels the same way about us. It doesn’t matter the reason for you and I being lost in God’s eye. He will turn the world upside down looking for us, and then throw a party when we are found.

Unlike the phones in our house, none of us are ever misplaced. We may drift away, turn our back on God, or reject Him in anger, but our Father always knows where we are. He purposefully pursues us and calls out to us until we answer the call. Then when we return, as this parable tells us, not only does God rejoice, but all of heaven throws a party.

PRAYER: I praise You, God, for pursuing me with fervency when I am lost. Help me hear Your call when I am in unfamiliar surroundings. Help me to always rejoice with the angels when one lost soul hears His or Her Father’s call.

BIBLE VERSE: “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? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:8-10 NIV).