It’s no fun to be lost and most of us can relate to that. I remember as a young man of getting lost while driving through Arco, Idaho, of all places – just made a wrong turn. Fortunately sometimes it is easy to find your way back and other times it is not so easy.
The Gospel of Luke records three parable’s Jesus gave about “being lost” – (1) The lost sheep, (2) The lost coin, and (3) The parable of the prodigal son. Each parable identifies a different way in which one gets “lost.”(1) The lost sheep: This “sheep” just gets all involved in what he is doing at the moment, taking no thought of what is happening and before you know it, he is lost! He just strays away.(2) The coin was lost by carelessness or neglect .(3) The prodigal son is lost through rebellion.
May I illustrate with an example or two: When I was three years old, I became lost because, like the sheep, I strayed. I wanted to be with my brother and father, and I thought they had crossed the road and gone up the hill. I trudged after them and became hopelessly lost. In this case, it took searching and help from a divine source before I was rescued.
I have been reading in the history of my great-grandfather. He and my great-grandmother reared my father because my father’s mother died when he was but two years old, and his father died when he was four years old. My great-grandfather had an accident while duck hunting. His muzzle loaded shotgun backfired and left him blind for six weeks and for ten more weeks he was very ill. The Ward Teachers (now called Ministers) asked if he needed help. He said it would really be appreciated until he could see again and get back on his feet.
The Ward Teachers never returned. He was shown kindness and given help by members of another church and he became somewhat bitter toward the Mormons, although he never left the church. Carelessness and neglect has been the problem for many who are spiritually lost today.
The prodigal became lost because he was short-sighted and a bit selfish. He wanted his inheritance to spend any way he wanted. He became spiritually lost until he “came to himself” and realized the better life was with his father ( See Luke 15:17).
How one becomes lost is not so much of an issue as how one becomes found. Heavenly Father has a great reward for those who are “finders.” In fact, He has promised great joy if we should labor all our days in finding one soul that was lost and helping him to return home.
It takes courage to return to God. It takes courage to invite one to return to God. Better, not to have been lost at all, but when it happens we must remember the joy we feel when we find our way home. God grant that our times being lost will be few and short and that there will be those sent to the rescue.
Merlin Frei