Tina is a little black Chihuahua dog that weighs ten pounds. She has long toenails that I find hard to cut without hurting her. So this time I decided to take her to the vet’s office to have them cut her toenails.
I took off her collar with her name tags, because it comes loose. Instead, I put a short leash on her to keep her close to me. And besides that, I held her in my arms while I registered her, just inside the door of the vet’s office. But while I was writing, Tina made a jump right out of my arms! When I leaped for her leash, I fell and my head hit the automatic door. It opened, and Tina took off across the parking lot! The people in the vet’s office wanted to help me up, but I said, “No, get the dog!” With all those people chasing her, she was off across the street, into a wooded office park, and she was gone!
I jumped into my car, and a lady from the vet’s office came with me, so we had two of us who could look in different directions. In our search, we drove close to my house and I decided to stop there and open the pet door, in case Tina found her way home. I also let the neighbor know in case he saw her. Then we drove on, always calling her name. But we didn’t find her.
The other people searching for my little black dog gave up the search when they came to a shopping mall and lost track of her. There were so many people at the mall, and with a big parking lot full of cars, they figured it was a lost cause to spend more time looking for her.
But that isn’t what Jesus does. When He’s searching for children lost in their sins, He never gives up! He loves them so much that He continues looking for them, no matter how long it takes. He wants to save them from their sins so they can live in heaven with Him someday. The Bible tells us, “The Son of Man [Jesus] is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:1111For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)). If you are still lost in your sins, He is looking for you right now and wants to wash away your sins. Will you come to Him and let Him be your Saviour? Tell Him that you know you are a sinner and want Him to wash your sins away.
Tina couldn’t find me, but I was still looking for her. I was alone in the car now and went back to the office park and walked through it. I knew that if her leash had gotten caught on a bush, she would just wait for me to find her. She always knew I would come. But if she was trying to find her way home, she would have to find her way through shopping centers on both sides of a very busy street with fast traffic. And so I continued to pray, asking the Lord Jesus to help me find her.
As I sadly reached home, my tears finally started to come. But just as the garage door opened, the phone rang. TINA WAS FOUND! She had almost gotten home, but just before turning into our street, she turned the wrong way. The people who found her tied her up and called their own vet. He knew a dog was lost because of my vet’s office calling them. So he sent the people to my vet with Tina.
How glad I was to drive back there and pick her up. And then I thanked the Lord Jesus for answering my prayers. Once again I proved this verse to be true: “They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He [saves] them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:1919Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. (Psalm 107:19)).
When a boy or girl or grown-up comes to the Lord Jesus to be washed clean from their sins, He calls them His sheep. And He is so happy to have found another sheep for heaven that He says, “Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost” (Luke 15:66And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. (Luke 15:6)).
And after Tina was found, I couldn’t help but tell people to rejoice with me, because I found my lost Tina. She is safely home now and hardly ever leaves my side.
ML-01/18/2015