Can you believe it? I was ten miles away from home and I threw away my car keys. I had not eaten since breakfast. No, it wasn’t 9:30 A.M. It was 3 P.M. I was driving past the Taco Bell where we usually ate lunch when teaching at Atlantic Union College, so I stopped. I put my car keys on my tray and unwrapped my burrito. Not thinking about the keys I unconsciously covered them with paper wrappings and napkins. The next time I thought about keys I was in the parking lot. While going through the ritual of checking every pocket I realized what had happened. I groaned as I thought about going back to the trash bin and sorting through half-eaten burritos, smashed tacos, yucky chicken bones (It is also a KFC.) and cups of soda that had been dumped. This wasn’t going to be pretty. Can you imagine the electronic key being saturated with diet Pepsi?
While digging deep into other people’s trash I thought about Jesus doing this on a daily basis. In the yuck of earth He and the Holy Spirit continually rummage about seeking lost souls. This is so much more important than me looking for lost keys. Actually they weren’t lost. I knew where they were. I just had to soil my hands to retrieve them. It’s the same way with Jesus. People aren’t really lost. He always knows where they are. He just has to convince them there is a better life waiting for them.
I like the idea that no one is ever lost. God isn’t careless. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of His Father knowing about the death of a small bird. How much more does He know where we are. Always!!
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 8, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org