“Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”-Luke 15:8-10.

Jesus gave another parable of similar import, to illustrate the same great truth from another angle. It was the custom among Jewish women to wear on the forehead a fringe of coin bangles. These might be of gold or silver, and sometimes represented her dowry. The loss of one of these coins would represent more than its intrinsic value; for its absence marred the beauty of the bangles. The search for the coin would mean that, instead of its being abandoned as not worthy of consideration, it would be hunted for diligently until found. The female neighbors would learn of the loss, and also learn if it were found, and would rejoice with her greatly. This is another illustration of joy in the presence of the angels of God over one repentant sinner .

The Value of a Man

Jesus said, “Are ye not of much more value than many sparrows?” In the present lesson he intimates that a man is of much more value than many coins and of much more value than many sheep. We all agree that it would be difficult to estimate too highly, too fully, the value of human life, especially if it were our own life or the life of someone dear to us. However, to what extent do we manifest this in our daily lives?

…Each Christian should ask himself, How much of God’s Spirit have I? How much of my time am I giving to helping my fellow-men out of their difficulties and trials back to God? How much am I sacrificing of my time and strength in going after the lost sheep? Hearken to the Apostle, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” “He that doeth righteousness is righteous” -and not merely he that professes to be a follower of Jesus.

Nevertheless, we are not to forget that God is the one chiefly interested in this great work, and that he has sent forth His Son for its accomplishment. We are not to forget that not only we have an interest, but that divine interest and love are greater than ours, and that divine wisdom is superior; and our course should be to give strict heed to “him that speaketh from heaven,” to follow his course, his example.

This may mean that we shall to some extent be misunderstood by others. There are many theories for saving the world by social uplift, political uplift, moral uplift, vice-fighting, etc. Undoubtedly, the principle remains always true that there are but two great captains in the warfare between sin and righteousness, namely, Christ and Satan. It remains true also that whoever is fighting for the one is fighting against the other. It is for us to make sure, first of all, that we are on the Lord’s side, on the side of righteousness, truth, purity, and goodness. There is still a further step-to make sure that we are fighting as our Captain would wish us to fight; that we are laboring as he would wish us to labor; that we are spending ourselves as he would wish us to be spent.

“This is the will of God (concerning you), even your sanctification.” Thus our personal salvation comes first, in God’s order. Reconciled to God ourselves and consecrated to His service, we inquire, What is the next step? The answer comes, “Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.” At first we might be disposed to demur, to say, Lord, should we not rather go after the straying, after the lost sheep? The answer is given by the Lord, through the Apostle, that we are to “do good unto all men as we have opportunity, especially unto the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10. If, therefore, the household of faith demands all of our time when we have the opportunity, we may be doing nothing for the lost sheep, but only helping to perfect those whom the Lord has already found.

The circumstances of the Lord’s providence alone can direct our course. When we see his purpose, his object, in this arrangement, all is clear. He is taking out of the world a peculiar people, to be joint -heir s with His Son in the kingdom; and they all need education along spiritual lines for their own development, and to fit and prepare them to be the royal priesthood-to be priests unto God-who by and by are to judge, to chasten, to uplift, to bless, all the world, in proportion as they shall prove willing and obedient. R 5427 (1914)