Luke 15 is an outstanding chapter of the Bible. It contains three stories told by Jesus to an audience of tax collectors, sinners and Pharisees; definitely not innocent children. The first story is about the lost sheep, the second is the lost coin and the third is the very famous story of the prodigal son. My pastor has often told us that this chapter speaks of the character of God. In each story we see God as a loving Father who desperately seeks to restore us. And when we are restored, He rejoices! Here is the passage from the second story of the lost coin.
Luke 15:8-10 NIV “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
According to Wikipedia, repentance is reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. So repentance could be described as the process of changing one’s mindset. Following, is a discussion with God, my prayer.
Dear Lord,
Changing mindsets. This is your business. The Bible calls this process repentance and restoration. Often in the Bible, people who refuse to repent are described as stiff-necked. As adults, we are all stiff-necked people. Some synonyms for stiff-necked are stubborn, uncompromising, obstinate, unreceptive, unbending, inflexible, unforgiving and opinionated. All these terms seem to be the theme in our culture today. No one seems to change their mind, and when they meet resistance, they dig in deeper. It is made quite clear in Luke 15 that changing hearts and minds is what You do. How do you do this, Lord? Experiencing the struggle of this process, I can understand the rejoicing that goes on when even one lost person is found!
Lord, you seek relentlessly for those who are lost. You don’t give up. You don’t want to lose anyone, and thankfully, you are all-powerful. I have seen firsthand how hard it is to admit I was wrong and change how I think and it brings me to tears to see people die because they refuse to change. But on a recent occasion, I have been privileged to see the anomaly of someone changing their mindset. Lord, I don’t know how you entice headstrong adults to change their way of thinking, but I am so excited that You do. This gives me hope.
Lord, keep being who you are. I trust You to do the heavy lifting.
Amen.