Lost Phone

​Stephen and I finished a bike ride and run workout on the Air Force Academy.  We loaded our bikes on the back of the truck and headed home.  But when we got there I couldn’t find my cell phone. I quickly realized that I had placed it on the back of the truck by the license plate and drove off without securing it.  A hundred “O no!” thoughts flashed through my mind.  About to take off on an international trip to Africa, it would be a disaster not to have my phone.  While most of the phone memory was backed up on my computer, it would still be a major setback and financial hit to lose that stellar black piece of technology.

My son reminded me of a feature called Find iPhone—an application Apple phones carry.  Fortunately, in God’s providence, the app was turned on and Stephen was able to detect the phone location on his laptop.  I took off with Kathleen and we were able to find the phone lying on a dirt parking lot—unharmed.  Praise the Lord!  
 
Meditation
Luke 15:3-7—So He told them this parable: “What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.
 
There is great joy realized in finding something valuable that was lost.  Jesus brought this truth home to His grumbling listeners with three consecutive parables about a man who found his lost sheep, a woman who discovered her lost coin and a father who received back his prodigal son.  He wanted the Pharisees and scribes, who complained about His time spent with sinners, to know how much God rejoices when a lost offender repents and is spiritually found.

Parables are a virtuous reminder to us.  I relate to the euphoria of successfully locating my phone and see the meaning behind Jesus’ stories.  It is easy to get in the mode of complaining about people.  The Pharisees and scribes considered themselves better than the tax collectors and sinners who came to hear Jesus.  They missed the whole point of why Jesus came to earth.  He was not there to make them feel good.  He was there to bring hope to the hopeless.  

​What about me?  Am I concerned for those around me who are living in sin or am I smug about my own righteousness?  Have I become so complacent about my salvation that I have forgotten that I’m to be out sharing the gospel with those who are in trouble?  I hope not. I hope a lost phone recovered is a tart reminder of what I truly should be doing—looking for lost souls.
 
Inspiration
Our greatest enemy is lostness.  Lostness is the terrible enemy that Jesus commissioned His followers to vanquish with the battle strategy that He spelled out for them in Matthew 28:18-20.—Nik Ripken in The Insanity of God
 
©2018 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)