The Value of Lost Things
Jim Wallenberg had entered the shelter to get on a mass transit train to downtown Toronto last month. He had fumbled through his things to find the train token, and he gathered his belongings and boarded the train when it arrived. He had settled into his train seat, when he noticed that he did not have his violin with him!
He stayed on the train, through Union Circle, and exited at the shelter where he had boarded earlier. Sadly, it was gone!
It was a special-ordered, handcrafted violin, made in Bologna, Italy, around 1995. It had cost thousands of dollars. The violin was a gift of his adoring 95-year old mother, who personally owned a custom-made violin by the same company, manufactured in 1975. Jim, her son, plays in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra!
Jim contacted the police and the media, and offered a $1,000 reward for its return. After a few weeks, someone had called Jim that he had found it. The finder had seen a violin case protruding out of a "street person's" shopping cart. He had "struck a deal" with the unnamed "street person," and she settled for $45 and the silver ring on his finger.
The phone-caller will receive the reward. Jim and his precious violin were reunited this past Thursday. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be back up to its "full sound," soon.
Jesus told a similar story in His chapter on "lost things." (Lk. 15) Why would a woman "turn her house upside down," to search for a silver coin? It's only a dead piece of metal! Didn't she have nine other coins? Why all the fuss?
It was the value she had put on it. It was probably a "dowry coin," given by her father when she married her husband. It had sweet memory and sentiment attached to it. When she had found it, it was "party time!"
Satan is on a hunt for human souls. He snatches them up, when they are left unprotected by spiritual neglect. He tempts people to surrender the control and possession of their souls, so that they might enjoy the pleasures of this world (. at least for awhile).
A carnal-minded person is led to believe that his soul is a cheap payment for a little fun. He does not realize the extreme value of his eternal life, but God does. The Heavenly Father paid the extreme price of the life of His only Son to buy us back. When the sinner accepts God's offer, it's "party time" in heaven! You're more valuable than you think!
|
