06/22/2025
Heaven Rejoices!
Have you ever lost something sentimental or valuable to you? How did you respond? Did you blame others...Yourself...God, perhaps?
Me, I tend to put the onus on myself. A loss is not easy. Especially if it is unexpected. Last year I lost something very valuable and sentimental to me. It was something I wanted to give to my granddaughter one day.
We were out of town and staying in a hotel. I accidentally hung the wrong sign on my hotel door on my way to the pool. Instead of placing the "Do not disturb," side on the sign, I used the side that said, "Room needs cleaned."
I had been in the pool for a while and the manager said, "The maid is up cleaning your room." I said, "No, it's fine." She responded and said, "The maid is there, she needed to finish something. You asked for the room to be cleaned." I said, "No, I didn't." She said, "The sign on the door said you request the room to be cleaned. I got an uneasy feeling, so I went to the room and looked for my wallet, and everything seemed fine, money, ID, cards were all there, so I just brushed the feeling off. However, I didn't think to look for the other items.
After we returned and I emptied my luggage, I didn't find what I had lost. I looked everywhere! Then, I went throughout the entire house thinking perhaps I didn't take them. ALL were gone...ALL. I was sick over it. I looked again, everywhere...not once, but over and over and over again. I blamed myself, thinking: Did I hide them and forget where...I shouldn't have had them with me...Did I do something wrong to deserve to lose them?" Even though I looked everywhere, months later, my heart would sink whenever I thought about being so irresponsible.
I felt like the shepherd and woman who had lost something valuable to them in the Bible Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin. Please see below and notice how the two Parables had the same meaning:
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15:1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him (Jesus). 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
Luke 15:8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The point of these Parables is not that the shepherd found the sheep or that the woman found the coin, and how happy they were when they found them; rather, they show us how happy God is when we repent from our sin. There is joy in Heaven and the angels rejoice when one sinner repents. That shows us how important we are to our Father in Heaven. He loves us so much, that He sent His Beloved Son Jesus to save us from our sin, so we can have an opportunity to repent.
All of the material items we find so important here on earth, do not compare to the importance of the soul. Are you a lost little sheep, or coin? It's simple to find forgiveness...to do so, one needs to believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord! Then repent of sin. The word repent means to 'turn away from;' repentance it an act of 'turning' from sinful ways and turning toward Jesus...to follow His example....and then glorying Him by helping others to find Him, too.
After 6 months, I did find what I had lost tucked up under a flap in my carry-on bag. I was so excited I sobbed happy tears and remorseful tears, wondering if that maid had taken them. I was convicted and asked Jesus to forgive me. It felt like God gave me a miracle and placed them there, because I can't tell you how many times I looked in that same spot and didn't see them. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to share the news with my husband, my friends, and my sons.
I see what Jesus wanted to show the crowd; the woman who lost here coin was thrilled, and the shepherd rejoiced over the one sheep! If I can be so excited over finding my items after I had written them off as gone; how much more will our Heavenly Father, Christ Jesus, and the angels rejoice in Heaven over one sinner who repents.
I pray Heaven has already rejoiced over your repentance; if not, give it a try...you'll be eternally grateful.
In His Service,
Cindy Sepulveda
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