The Lost Finally Found

Have you ever lost something? Have ever searched and searched for it only to come up empty handed? This happened to me. Close to two years ago I lost a set of keys. Not just any ordinary keys. On this key ring were the second key to Brenda's car, the key to our house and our post office mailbox key.

I searched and searched. For some reason I thought the key had either been left in the front pocket of a pair of pants are fallen out of the pockets somewhere on the floor in the closet. I never thoroughly investigated this theory. Not until this morning.

We had a crisis. We inadvertently locked the keys in Brenda's suburban last night. We did not discover this until this morning when Brenda walked out the door to go to work. She asked if I had the keys. I remembered she drove last. Panic time. When we came home late we unloaded groceries. I peered through the window and saw her keys still in the ignition. We did not have another spare key to her vehicle. Tucker and Turner would leave for school about half an hour later. They were not even up yet. She did not have time to wait for them.

Without saying anything Brenda wheeled around headed for our bedroom. I asked what she was doing. She intended to look through my pants to find that long lost key. I went into the closet and pulled out every single pant I had. Slacks, jeans and twills all got piled on the bed. Each pocket searched producing only disappointment. Still no key.

She decided to take my truck. Tucker drives that truck. Fortunately Tanner is home for a week and I made plans for him to drive the younger two into school. I could not fathom where that key had disappeared. I even got on my knees and searched the bottom of my closet. Still nothing.

I took our dog outside to watch her mulling over in my mind what could have happened to those keys. A thought hit me. I had not checked the pockets of my shorts in the dresser. So I pulled each of them out. Some I knew I would not have the key in because I had worn them recently. Still I checked each pocket. I found a pair of shorts in the very bottom of the drawer I forgot I owned. I could not remember the last time I had worn those shorts. Dutifully I shoved my hand deep into the right front pocket. BINGO! I could not believe it. My fingers hit pay dirt feeling the metal of those long lost keys. The lost was finally found. Hallelujah.

That is not the point of this article. What is the point? When we were lost God searched for us. He did not give up on us. While we stumbled through life He continued to pursue us. He did not give up the mission to reclaim us. To find us. To restore us. To save us.

I did not meet Jesus as my Savior until age 17. At that time nothing could have been further from my mind. My entire life centered around football, my girl friend, family and friends. Yet, God searched for me ardently. He did not give up on me. He relentlessly came after me. I've often written my testimony of how I came to Jesus and will not do so again here. I will say Jesus found me and brought me safely into His fold one crisp October night in 1983. Since that day I have been a sheep in His pasture under His loving watchcare.

I rejoice that today and everyday He is still on mission finding the lost, the strays, the stragglers alienated from Him and redeeming them. It is a theme I love to tell. It reminds me of an old song.

I Love To Tell The Story

I love to tell the story
  Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
  Of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story,
  Because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings
  As nothing else can do.
  I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love.
2
I love to tell the story;
  More wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies
  Of all my golden dreams,
I love to tell the story,
  It did so much for me;
And that is just the reason
  I tell it now to thee.
3
I love to tell the story;
  ’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
  More wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story;
  For some have never heard
The message of salvation
  From God’s own holy Word.
4
I love to tell the story;
  For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
  To hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory,
  I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story,
  That I have loved so long.

It is a grand story. It is a miracle when Jesus finds the lost and adopts them into His family. It is a wonderful story to tell. Jesus found me just like I found those keys. Only the keys had no will of their own. They were forgotten. Sitting dormant unable to to cry out for help. I, on the other hand, willfully chose to rebel against God and His commandments. I embraced sin and shunned His grace and mercy. I tried to run far from Him. He came after me anyway and caught me. He found me. Now, I just keep telling that old story. It is a pleasant story to repeat. One day I will sing that story through the ages in glory along with millions and millions of others who were found as well. Hallelujah the lost finally was found.