The Lost Remote

8"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9"When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'
–Luke 15:1-9

On Sunday, I had some good friends of mine to come over. We had not talked in a while, so we decided to have dinner together and to watch a movie. Being the cheap miser that I am, I looked for a free on demand movie on cable (I have Verizon FIOS). I found a movie….it was Not Easily Broken. It is an okay movie but not the point of this devo. To watch an On Demand movie, you have to use your remote to find it. I could not find my remote….I did not remember where I placed it. I started to look all over the house for this remote. I even requested assistance from my friends. I was reminded that I had an extra remote upstairs….so I went and got that remote and used it for the time being. While watching the movie I kept wondering where the remote is and periodically I would walk and look in various places for this remote. My efforts were in vain.

After the movie, my wife and her girlfriend went out to the store…I continued to look for the remote. I moved furniture this time and even started to look for my flashlight. Still I was unable to find the remote. I thought if I stop thinking about the remote then I could find it BUT I could not even stop thinking about it. I know this is slightly obsessive compulsive.

After a couple of hours, I needed to get ready for work on Monday. I went upstairs to unload our laundry and place my clothes up and iron my outfits for the week. At the bottom of the laundry basket was…..you guessed it my remote. I was soooo excited I showed my wife. I called my friend. I swelled up with pride as if I just won the lottery. I felt good about that for hours. I slept sooo well and felt sooo accomplished.

This adventure of mine made me think about the parable of the women and the lost coin. Here is a woman with 10 coins and she lost one. She lights a lamp, spending a lot of oil so that she can have a better chance to find the coin. In addition, she cleans the house to see if the coin could be covered by dirt or in some little corner. Don’t ya think the time and the effort that she is putting into this is worth more than the coin. She ultimately finds the coin and throws a huge party so to speak celebrating its discovery. Do you think that maybe she was wasting her time?

God views each of us as that lost coin. Something very valuable…worth finding at all costs. He died of the cross for you. He does not think it is a waste of time to do whatever it takes to find us. The next time you are scrambling over your house looking for that one misplaced thing, tearing up your house and not thinking straight, think about how God loves and what he did to find you.


Luke 15:1-10 1Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3So He told them this parable, saying, 4"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5"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 which was lost!' 7"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9"When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' 10"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."


Questions: Do you remember a time when you lost something and search all over for, what was the item? How did you feel when you found the item, was it worth all the time and effort to find it? Do you think that God will ever give up on trying to find you, explain?