"Short" tipped me off to this recent story in the Jerusalem Post.  What a thing!  Imagine losing your diamond jewelry in the city dump because your child threw it in the trash! This writing is not about forgiveness, though it does lend itself to that topic.   Rather, it is about losing and retrieving things that are valuable.
     A man in Luke chapter 15 lost a sheep.  He had 99 others, but even this 1% was a costly possession. He searched high and low for the wandering sheep, and finally, he found it.
     A woman lost something more valuable to her than a sheep.  It was a silver coin, one of ten. That woman moved furniture, shook rugs, picked up clutter, and swept her entire little house searching EVERYWHERE for 10% of her savings.  Finally her hard work was rewarded!
     A young man left home and took his inheritance early, throwing away 100% of it on parties and wild living. When he was done having a “good” time he was left with less than nothing!  He didn’t even realize it was gone until he was sitting in pig slop. But it wasn’t his money that was truly valuable – it was the home and loving father that he had thrown away.  The young man had to humble himself and forsake his pride to get those precious things back.  All three of these people realized, at some point, the value of the precious item they had lost.
     Sometimes we Christians lose things, too, whether inadvertently or purposely.  Many have lost their purity, or their good reputation, or their honor. Some have thrown away their talent; others, a precious relationship. Thanks be to God that we cannot be so careless as to lose our salvation!
     If you have lost something that you are now realizing was truly valuable, you will find it just in the exact spot where you left it.  You may have to search or sort through a lot of trash to find it, but it is there. Have you lost your fellowship with your Father? He is right where you wandered away from him. He does not change; he does not move.  “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you,” James 4:8. Did you throw away a talent that the Lord gave you to honor him with?  You still have it. Start again where you stopped using it.  Ask the Lord to forgive you for counting that gift he gave you a small thing. What about a personal relationship?  Did you know that you really can’t serve the Lord properly if a brother or sister has something against you? The Bible says to be reconciled.  You don’t have to dredge up the past and hash over details.  Just say, “I’m sorry. I have not done right. I know I offended you.  I did not forgive you. Will you please forgive me for bearing a grudge?” It is amazing how powerful those words are. Your relationship with that person is still there, right where you left it.  Do you value it enough to get it back?  People are not for throwing away.
     Some things, such as purity, are gone forever when they are thrown away.  But there is forgiveness with the Lord. You can be pure again in your heart. Forsake those things that have made you impure, and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to wash you in his blood. He is willing and able to cleanse you from “ALL unrighteousness"! 
     It is a wonderful thing that the precious things we have lost or thrown away don’t have to stay lost.  They may be buried in a dump, but they are not irretrievable. Jesus Christ knows the exact place where they will be found again, and if you will ask him, he will help you to get your treasure back.  Your story can have a happy ending!

P.S. Thanks, Short!