8 "Or what woman, having ten silver [a]coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!' 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (NKJV).
Greetings,
Jesus often taught using stories as parables.
The directional focus of the story is to help change the hearer's heart and mind through transformative storytelling. For instance, like us, Eve desired to do God's work, but she listened to an unauthorized authority in her misplaced desires. Too often, we hear and submit ourselves to others who have no power in our lives. To move from the problem of indecision and disobedience, we must listen and act on what God is saying to us about us. It is just that simple: choose whom you will serve this day.
The parable of the missing coin is the second of three stories, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost boy Jesus used to help His audience understand that lost people are valuable to God. However, His message also teaches that an individual cannot have a nonaligned relationship with God.
Essentially, you are either lost or found.
There is no middle ground with God.
Powerful thought is that the parable teaches that just as this woman diligently searched for her one lost coin, God diligently seeks to find lost people, even if only one is lost. Jesus shows that there is a spiritual meaning to the word lost. It represents the spiritual condition of being separated from God and disconnected from the source through which it was formerly a part of.
The cultural aspect teaches that a married woman wore what is referred to as a drachma (Luke 15:8), a valuable coin often worn in a ten-piece garland by married women.
Have you ever lost something? In the process, tear the house up, looking for it? The diligent searching for the lost item is its sentimental value or a gift given to you for a special occasion, or perhaps it reminded you of a time when you were young. Whatever the reason for searching, it had value to you.
Luke 15:8c-"…Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?" Another aspect of this parable is that Luke 15:8c calls attention to her actions in looking for the lost coin. She takes thoughtful consideration in using the tools at hand, namely her broom, to sweep the house carefully for the lost coin.
In Luke 15:9-10, And her finding the lost coin, she implores her friends to rejoice with her. Through her diligent search, the lost coin is no longer missing and celebrated with rejoicing as when "one sinner who repents" sums up the transformative result of being restored to a right relationship with God and His love for lost individuals.
An important lesson to remember: the scriptures reveal God's transformative examples of restoring individuals to a place of light rather than remaining in darkness.
Again, spiritual emphasis, our responsibility as believers of the gospel is to share the gospel with those who are lost so they can be restored or brought back into the right relationship with God.
John 1:3 reveals this thought; we were created to fulfill the purpose by which God's handwork has furnished. Stanford adds that God's work is spiritual and demands spiritual people to do the job (Stanford, p. 69).
A Valuable Servant,
Minister Sylvia Joyner
Footnotes:
Luke 15:8 Gr. drachma, a valuable coin often worn in a ten-piece garland by married women.
Miles J. Stanford, 69.
New King James Version (NKJV)
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