Gospel

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And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Luke 15:5-7

I had a scary experience this morning. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. Esther was asleep so Hannah and I went outside. I was pulling out some long weeds along the fence line and Hannah was 'helping!'
The fence we are building out the front of our property is only half up. The fence is high enough at the moment to keep Hannah in, but we don't have a gate. So I rigged up a homemade 'gate' . For a long time that was all Hannah needed to keep her in.
But on this day I went inside when I heard Esther was awake. I left Hannah outside and got washed up. I got Esther out of bed and was about to feed her, but for some reason I went to check on Hannah.
I couldn't see her anywhere. Then I looked down the driveway and the gate was down. Oh no! I quickly ran to the road and looked up and down but couldn't see any sign of her. I looked all around our property and checked in all the rooms in the house but no Hannah. I put Esther in the pushchair and walked quickly down to the end of our road. There was absolutely no sign of Hannah anywhere. At the end of our road is the busy main road of town. I was scared of Hannah getting run over by a car. I saw a lady running down the road and into a Salvation army building. I thought maybe she had seen Hannah but Hannah was no where in sight. So I walked back to the house and looked there again. Then I jumped in the car with Esther and drove to the other end of the road. Nothing. I decided to go back to the Salvation army building and check there. So I drove to the end of the road and was waiting for a chance to get across the busy road, when I saw 2 ladies come out of a shop with Hannah on my side of the road. I waved at them to get their attention then quickly backed up and parked the car. I rushed out of the car and across the road to where Hannah was. These ladies had found Hannah walking up the road. One of them had gone over to the Salvation army to check that Hannah hadn't come from there, because they have playgroup there sometimes. Can you imagine my relief and joy at finding my precious little Hannah alive and safe?
I was so relieved I cried!!
This experience reminded me of the parables Jesus told about lost things—the lost sheep, the missing coin and the prodigal son. In each story there was so much joy when what was lost was found. In the same way there is much joy in heaven when one lost sinner returns to God.
Are you lost? Are you going your own way like Hannah was going her own way? Hannah didn't think of herself as being lost. She also didn't know that she was in danger. She just knew she was free and having a good time!
If we are not following God we are lost and in danger. Just like a 2 year old needs an older person when going for a walk, every human needs God to guide them through life.
Can you imagine the joy God feels when one lost person He loves dearly is found?
Christian Teen Girls

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