Finding the Lost

Today I worked doing inventory at the local quilt shop. It is 2.5 miles down the road on a century farm. She has added on to her building 3 times, and it is full of fabric, books, patterns, tools, and all the rest of what you find in a quilt store. It looks like a lot of stuff, but you don't realize how much is a lot until you have to count it. There is more paperwork involved in accounting for every bolt, cut piece, and article to make a quilt than you could ever imagine!

So we count the cost...the cost of every piece in the place, so she can pay her property taxes, income taxes, and other taxes. Fortunately the computer will do most of the calculating, but we have to touch or look at (or for!) every thing that was bought and put into that building.

Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. They look tirelessly for those lost things. We try, at the shop, to find every lost item...some are easier to account for than others. Some are misplaced and found out of place. Some have been stolen...yes, quilters do steal. Some are mislabeled and have the wrong numbers on them. Some fall behind cupboards, or were used for samples and never accounted for, and who knows what else could have happened to them. We look for a reasonable amount of time for the lost item. We really do. But sometimes you have to stop looking because it is not there to find, for whatever reason.

But Christ says that none than belong to the Lord will ever be lost. He will chase us down if we try to run away or wander and get lost. He carries us home if we are too weak to make the journey back on our own. He is the ultimate shop-owner! He accounts for our every move. We are never out of His tender care and watchful eye.

We also put things into the sale area...stuff that has lost its favor in the owner's eyes. If she doesn't like it anymore, if it has lasted longer than it should have, or if room needs to be made for the new fabric coming in, it must go. The price is reduced. Sales are advertised. And, in the end, if no one wants it, it may be sold off for less than it's purchase price. It is a dud and a liability instead of an asset.

That is not the way it is with Jesus. We may totally lose our appeal to the world, and may even get scolded by the Savior as the churches in Revelation, where he warned them of their tendencies of drifting away. But He still bought them with His blood, and His blood is never devalued, nor can we be devalued in the eyes of the Lord.

Let's not test His patience by wandering, dropping out of sight so we can't be found for a while, or not working well with the others in the church like a bolt that has no companions and is ultimately sold off cheap because nothing goes with it. Let's be easy to find, to account for, and compliment those around us so we are not in danger of being thought of as fairly worthless and sale-bin worthy. Jesus bought us...we are not our own...we've been bought with a price...therefore, glorify God...