Daily Devotional for April 19, 2021
The Lost Keys
“Let’s stop here!” Noah pressed his face against the window and gaped at the massive boulders surrounding their car.
“Everyone out! Let’s explore the hoodoos of Yellowstone!” Dad exclaimed.
“Funny name.” Layla giggled. “Oh, Mom! Look at that furry critter by those rocks! What is it?”
“Oh! I read about those in our Yellowstone book—they’re called pikas. You can read more about them when we get back in the car.”
The family spent a while climbing to the tops of the tallest boulders. Then Dad announced, “Let’s get back on the road.”
When they got to the car, Dad turned to Mom with a bewildered look on his face. “Do you have the keys?”
“No, you were driving when we left the campsite. Are they in your pocket?”
“No.” Dad pulled the car door handle. “And the car won’t open, which means they aren’t here. I must have dropped them when we were climbing the boulders.”
“Oh no.” Mom sighed. “Well, we’d better go back and start looking.”
They retraced the route they had taken through the boulders, circling back to the car, but the keys were nowhere to be found. “We need to search our backpacks,” Dad said. “Perhaps the battery died in the key remote. That could be why the car didn’t unlock automatically.”
Mom and Dad started searching through their packs. “Please, God, help them find our keys,” Layla whispered.
“Aha!” Dad triumphantly held up his jacket. “They were in my jacket pocket all along…and yep, the battery is dead,” he said, pushing a button on the fob. “At least there’s a backup key attached so we can get in and start the car.”
“Thank you, God!” The kids started a joyful dance. “You know, this reminds me of one of Jesus’s parables,” Noah mused. “Remember the woman who lost her coin and swept her whole house looking for it?”
“There was plenty of rejoicing when she found it, just like the angels in heaven rejoice when any person comes to Jesus,” Mom noted.
Dad grinned. “This day will always remind me of how much God loves us and wants to bring the lost to Himself.”
“And that He listens when we pray for the lost…even lost keys!” Layla said with a grin. (Savannah Coleman)
How about you?
Have you ever lost something important? In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables about lost things: a sheep, a coin, and a son. In all the stories, the common theme is that there is great rejoicing over the lost being found. Those who do not know Jesus as their Savior are lost. If you are lost, trust in Him. Then all of heaven will rejoice! (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)
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