I lost my wallet recently. I searched the car, walked every room of the house, thought back through my day, puzzled over its placement. Frustrated and out of ideas, I finally remembered the inner pocket of a jacket I wear only occasionally. There rested my wallet, safe and sound.

Jesus told stories of lost and found, a lost sheep and a lost coin and a lost son. Jesus told of the joy of the shepherd who searched and finally found his lost lamb. He told of a woman scouring her house, desperate for that coin, and her joy upon discovering it.

Then Jesus told of a father, waiting and watching for his boy. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Each of these stories describe the rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.

I sometimes think of the Lord as a prison warden, waiting to punish an escapee. He still has time to serve and crimes to account for before anyone rejoices over him. Where did I get such an idea?

Not from Jesus.

Jesus literally lives for the return of the lost.

He is the shepherd searching the hills, he is the woman sweeping the house, he is the father on the porch scanning for his lost son.

Jesus leads the celebrations over the lost sinner who repents. Heaven erupts like March Madness when underdogs win. Best of all, it doesn’t happen only in March—heaven is a constant party zone. Here exists joy unmatched.

This better, more accurate realization of the joyful heart of Jesus helps me encourage others toward him. Why the sheep wandered off in the first place fades when the shepherd finds the sheep. The father on the porch (not the warden in the prison) best describes the Lord’s heart for you and me and those we bump into today.

Luke 15 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Ray Hennessy