Persistence

Jesus refuses to leave the lost alone.

Luke 15:8-10

What householder, who has ten silver pieces and loses one, doesn’t light a lamp and sweep the house in a diligent search until she finds what she had lost? And when it is found, the householder calls in her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me! I’ve found the silver piece I lost!’ I tell you, there will be the same kind of joy before the angels of God over one repentant sinner.

While the Pharisees mutter about table manners, Jesus spotlights a woman on her knees, palm sweeping the dirt until her silver glints. She refuses to accept “close enough,” because scarcity has taught her every coin counts—and every person does too. Her relentless search counters religion’s quiet resignation that some losses are inevitable. She lights a lamp, shifts furniture, then summons her neighbors to celebrate; persistence turns recovery into community joy. The gospel looks like women who keep turning the house upside-down until no child, elder, or dream is missing. Who is the persistent woman you look to when you’re afraid someone has dropped the ball on what truly matters?

Jesus refuses to leave the lost alone. Identify one forgotten soul—or silenced part of yourself. Name it aloud, then take a concrete step today (text, visit, make that appointment) to bring it back into the circle of joy.

—Libby Tedder Hugus