Recently, I was helping take care of some extended family affairs after my father-in-law received word that space was now available in a nearby veteran’s retirement community. While working around my father-in-law’s home, I borrowed the keys to unlock the shop so I could stow some items there. Later that day, I realized that I had lost the keys! Sadly, forgetting where I put things is not all that uncommon – ha!

I thought that I had given them back to my sister-in-law, but I could not be certain and she said that she did not have them. I had taken care of so many projects around the farm that I could not remember what I did with them! If it was just a key to the shop I could have replaced that easy enough, but this key ring had ALL the keys to every lock on the property. I was really starting to sweat and initiated a hunt to find the keys. I retraced every step I had taken that day and even went back over the same territory again with a flashlight as evening approached.

I finally came to the resolve that I would just have to replace all the locks…and there were quite a few. All of the family came together the next morning and went over every place I had worked the day before to no avail. The keys could not be found. Then, the girls came out of the house and shared that the keys had been found…in my sister-in-law’s coat pocket! I had actually given them to her after opening the shop. But, when she went back into the house, she switched coats. She felt terrible about the incident, but I was elated! What I thought was lost had been found.

Can you imagine how much more valuable you are to your Creator than a set of keys? All through the ages God has been trying to restore a right relationship with someone so precious to Him—you! The Scriptures tell us in Romans 5:8 (KJV), “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That’s why the Bible reveals God’s joy when someone finds their way back to a right relationship with Him through His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus reveals this in his stories about the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-7, the lost coin in Luke 15:8-10 and the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-24. So today, let Jesus Christ take his rightful place in your life and let the rejoicing begin!

For Him,
Dr. Marshall M. Windsor, D.Min.