Lost or Left
This group of friends gathered at Shiloh for a 13th birthday celebration for one of our grandsons.
At one point in the midst of the party our daughter realized she had lost her phone. She couldn't remember where she had left it. She had searched inside the house and out. We went to an area in the yard where I'd seen her taking pictures with the phone and I said, "Let me call your phone." Reaching in my left skirt pocket I pulled out HER phone! My phone was in my right pocket. She hadn't left it anywhere. It was truly lost. Lawsie, lawsie! We had a good chuckle.
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid...for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
Day 37 of The Passion Code made a very good point differentiating between something being lost and something being left.
"One of the most misquoted verses in all the Bible is found in Revelation when John, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, makes this accusation. 'You have left your first love.' (Revelation 2:4). Ask a hundred people who may have heard of this verse and the majority will remember it as saying, 'You have lost your first love.' But there is a world of difference in admitting that we left something and having to admit we lost something. The admission that 'I left something' seems to carry more personal responsibility than simply saying, 'I lost something.'"
The author sites the story of Mary and Joseph leaving the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem and at the end of the day realizing Jesus wasn't with them. They hadn't loss Jesus, they had left him in Jerusalem and had to go back for him.
Praise the Lord! He never leaves us. We can't lose our relationship with Christ, but we can choose to leave it. If you have walked away. Go back to your first love. He's easy to find. He's waiting for you to return.
The Song
"First Love" Chris Tomlin/Kim Walker Smith
