Bible Reading: Luke 15:4-10; Acts 1:8

"Mom, have you seen my other tennis shoe?" Piper ran from room to room with only one shoe on, desperately looking for the other one. She was supposed to be leaving to spend the night at her friend Aryanna's house.

"No, but I can help you look. Do you remember where you saw it last?" Mom asked.

Piper shook her head, and the two frantically looked for the missing shoe. They looked under beds, in the closet, in the bathroom, and even in Piper's brother's room.

"Are you sure you didn't pack it with your overnight things?" Mom asked.

Piper was about to say she would never do anything silly like that, but she knew Mom would just make her look anyway, so she began pulling out everything from her bag. The last thing she pulled out was her missing shoe. "Oops--here it is!" Piper said, a little embarrassed. "Well, I'm glad it's been found."

"Remember I'm going to pick you up for church tomorrow," Mom said as they got in the car. "Did you invite Aryanna to come?" Piper shook her head. "Did you know that the Bible talks about Jesus wanting us to help Him find what's lost?" Mom asked.

Piper shot her mom a puzzled look. "What could Jesus have lost that He would need our help finding? He's God's Son. He knows everything!"

"The Bible says Jesus wants us to help bring lost sinners to Him. We can do that by praying for them and sharing how He's changed our lives--and even by inviting them to church." Mom turned to look at Piper. "Do you remember how happy and relieved you felt when you found your missing shoe?" Piper nodded. "Well," said Mom, "the Bible says all of heaven rejoices when one sinner is saved. That's how happy God is when one lost person is found. And even though God is the only one who can change a person's heart, He wants us to play a part by praying for others and pointing them to Him so we can rejoice with Him when they're found."

"Okay, Mom. I'll see if Aryanna wants to come to church with us tomorrow," Piper said as they pulled into Aryanna's driveway. "And I'll pray for her too."

–Melissa Yeagle