Something Can’t Be Found Until It’s Lost

Have you ever gone to a lost and found? It probably wasn’t to marvel at the variety of things people manage to lose. In almost every case we go to a lost and found – whether at work, a restaurant, a movie theater, or somewhere else we’ve been recently – seeking something of value that we’ve left behind. 

That happened to me some time ago. I’d been to a worship service at our church and on the way home realized I’d forgotten, of all things, my Bible. Since it’s not my only Bible I didn’t rush back to church the same day, but the following Sunday I did ask where the lost and found was to see if it was there.

I was amazed at the number of Bibles that were there, waiting to be reclaimed. After a brief search I found my own Bible and haven’t misplaced it since. As for the other Bibles, either their owners hadn’t yet realized they were lost, they forgot where they had left them, or sadly, didn’t care.

 

My intent isn’t to judge those who haven’t diligently searched for their missing Bibles. Maybe some were left by visitors from out of town and returning just to check out our church’s lost and found wasn’t practical for them. But going there demonstrated a basic truth: Things can’t be found until we realize they’re lost.

 

This is eminently true in a spiritual sense. A good friend of mine, a truly gifted evangelist, often said, “People can’t be saved until they realize they’re lost.” That is, if they’re perfectly content with their lives as they are and don’t recognize they’re lost and in need for a Savior, it’s hard for them to understand they need to be found.

 

Jesus Christ explained this in one of His best-known parables, the one about a young man commonly known as the prodigal son.

 

As the story went, a wealthy man had two sons. The younger one grew impatient waiting for his father to die, so he demanded his share of the inheritance right then. Jesus didn’t say what might have been going through the father’s mind, but he agreed to divide the estate equally between the two sons.

 

The greedy son, having no sense of his moral and spiritual lostness, figured he had it made. “Not long after that, the youngest songot together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need” (Luke 15:13-14).

 

Up to that point, if someone had told the son he was lost, he would have laughed hysterically. He might have responded, ‘Me, lost? You’re joking! I’ve got it made. I have everything I’ll ever need!’ Until he didn’t.

 

Desperate, this young fellow who hadn’t known he was lost hired himself out to slop pigs. Presuming he was a Jew, this very non-kosher job would have been the ultimate disgrace. Finally, beyond desperation, he decided to return home, grovel before his father, and offer himself to be one of the servants. 

 

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of the hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father’” (Luke 15:17-20).

 

Suddenly, this self-assured young man, who had no idea of how badly he had lost his way, was going home, head down in humiliation and remorse. He’d finally recognized his lostness.

 

The parable closes not with a father’s angry rebuke and condemnation, but with a joyful, ‘Welcome home!’ Seeing his prodigal son in the distance, the father rushed to him, embraced him, and then called for a festive party. “The father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet…. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’” (Luke 15:22-24).

 

I believe Jesus told this story to His followers to illustrate how our heavenly Father responds when people realize how completely lost they are and in repentance, turn to Him to become found.

 

One of the best-known hymns is “Amazing Grace,” written by one-time slave trader John Newton more than 250 years ago. Its message resonates just as strongly today. In this musical testimony of his spiritual rebirth, Newton made this declaration: “I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see.” As the friend I mentioned earlier observed, he had to get lost before he could let himself be found – by God.

 

Do you have a non-believing friend or family member you’ve been praying for, perhaps for a very long time? Pray that they’ll get lost – realize their spiritual lostness and bankruptcy and surrender to be found by the God whose love, grace and mercy have no limit. The apostle Paul, once very lost in his religious zeal, put it this way: “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9).