Thursday, April 26, 2018

Do you have a “safe place” where you put important items?  Is it so safe that when you need that “thing,” you can’t remember where that “safe place” is?  No one misplaces anything, it is still there, somewhere.  This little game of hide and seek isn’t restricted to a specific age group, nor to those who have been dubbed by their peers as “forgetful.”  It’s just that those “safe places” are so safe that even the saver can’t extract them!

I’ve been looking for a pair of cylinders for the past six months or longer.  They are in a very “safe, safe place”!  Every drawer has been opened.  Everything that touches the floor has been search under, even using a high-powered flashlight.  Tops of things have revealed only undiscovered dust.  Closets have been thoroughly investigated.  Cabinets have been completely explored.  The attic was opened.  The shed out back was check-listed.  I thought about looking under the house, but I haven’t been under there in years!  Suitcases and all bags of any size have been examined.  I did find something when I stumbled across their “safe place.”  Upon discovery, my usual remark was, “Oh, that’s where I put this!”  So, those cylinders are safe from me and the rest of the world!  One day, when I’m searching for the “safe place” of something else, I’ll find the one containing those two cylinders!  They are waiting to be discovered!  The time is within my discretion.

When you find something you have put away for safe keeping, what is your reaction?  I’m sure some will look at the item and say to one in particular, “Well, idiot, here it is!  How could you have forgotten this ‘safe place’?”  Perhaps most will say what I did.  Yet, there is an emotion when finding what was lost that comes into play!  It is called “Joy”!  We’ve found what was lost.  Jesus told about folks who had that kind of joy.  A shepherd who found a lost lamb (Luke 15:4-7), a woman who found a lost silver coin (vv.8-9), and a father whose lost son returned home (vv.11-24).  It is true that none of these had been put in a “safe place” by the one who lost them, but they all rejoiced when the lost item was found.

All of us are lost due to our sins (Romans 3:10, 23).  The only one who can save us is our Creator.  We can’t save ourselves any more than we can lift ourselves up by pulling on our boot straps.  No matter how good we are, it will never be good enough to merit our salvation (Isaiah 64:6).  God’s justice demanded a perfect sacrifice, not one that was stained with disobedience.  Yahweh sent his Word to become flesh and live a life without sin, so he could die for us (John 1:1-14).  He paid our debt (Romans 5:6, 8; 1 Corinthians 15:3)!  We accept what he did so our old man of sin be put to death.  Then we are buried with Jesus into his death and raised into a new life (Romans 6:1-6).  When we do, there is rejoicing in heaven (Luke 15:7).

Jesus is our “safe place”!  God never misplaces nor forgets who we are and where we are when we are “in Christ”!