“ For they shall be like the [a]jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land—” Zechariah 9:16
Luke 15 is a chapter with three stories. One is a Father longingly watching for His son to come back home. The son had left home and spent everything he had to try to find something independently of His Father. He ended up broke, used, and empty. He decided it would be better to live as a servant in his Father’s home. He began the journey back. The Father, who was urgently watching, saw His son in the distance, coming back home. The Father did not hesitate. He immediately and eagerly RAN to meet His son, holding nothing back. When He met His son, He fell on him and a strong embrace. He received him back as a son, giving him family items and gathering the entire household together to celebrate the son’s return. This parable is a picture of our Father God pursuing us and overtaking us.
Another story is about a woman desperately searching for her coin. This was not just any coin, but a coin that was part of a wedding necklace that had been lost. It could be compared to a woman searching for her wedding ring. When someone is married, he or she is in a covenant relationship, a bond that can only be broken by death. The woman was searching for the symbol of this relationship. When she found the coin, the Bible says she had great joy. God is searching for you, not just to save you, but pursuing you for because He wants a daily covenant relationship with you. Finding you gives Him joy.
Another is a shepherd searching for a lost sheep. This shepherd has many sheep, but His heart breaks with the thought of His sheep that is feeling lost, alone, scared, broken, and hungry. The shepherd knows this animal well, a loved pet, and He searches for the lamb to rescue it. Jesus is the shepherd and you are the Lamb. You are His priority. You are His first and foremost quest. He seeks you out to find you and bring you home.
Notice that being a rebel, a wanderer, and something lost does not intimidate God. He will search for you, even when you don’t know He’s looking for you. You are so valuable to God that He sent Jesus to die in your place, and if He did that, there is nothing that will stop God from pursuing you day after day after day.
Application: Learn the joy of being found, not just saved, but every day, found by God in relationship. Push away distractions and focus on Him – your Father, your Love, your Shepherd.