Tonight, my son put on a show I have never heard about. It is called World Chase Tag. It is exactly what you think, they are playing “Tag.” Yes, that’s a sport. It really is impressive the amount of athleticism these men have. There is a team, but only two people face off at one time. One person is “It” and the other person chases for 20 seconds at the most. If “It” lasts 20 seconds, then he wins the round.

I couldn’t help but think of how God chases us. It is a striking visual to think of us running away, dodging obstacles, and diving to do our own thing. Of course, that sounds silly, and we don’t think we run away from God.

Jesus told people three parables making it clear that we are “It” running away. The first parable is about a sheep that wandered off, likely because it just lost sight of the shepherd (Luke 15:3-7). The second parable is missing a coin that could have fallen through the cracks (Luke 15:8-10). The final parable makes it clear that Jesus is talking about people with the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

In all cases the lost item gets disconnected from the community before it realizes it was wandering from the father. How could you reconnect with community in this season?

The parables tells us God looks for us and He is overjoyed when He finds us!