Missingmoney.com is a website you are going to want to remember. On this website you can find out how much money various establishments owe you right now. Some people have a lot of money due to them; others have very little. Regardless of how much money is owed to you personally, there is no getting around the drastic amount of unclaimed dollars that we as a country have floating out there. Time Magazine even estimates that there is north of $30 billion of unclaimed dollars currently in the government’s hands because the owners have not claimed the cash .
Just think about that for a moment, $30 billion dollars is currently unclaimed. Free money that is rightfully yours may be just one click away.
The whole concept of a lost and found amazes me. The fact that people don’t go back to claim what is rightfully theirs blows my mind. Sure, you may need to stand in a line or show proof of identification from time to time, but a little effort is well worth the reward.
This idea does a fairly good job of summarizing Jesus’ ministry. In fact, it’s not too far of a stretch to say that Luke 19:10 (NIV) is Christ’s theme verse-“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” In His time on earth, Christ was on a giant lost and found mission as He died and rose again to claim that which was rightfully His-you and me. Jesus even compared His three year ministry to that of a shepherd who willingly left the 99 sheep to go after the one lost sheep. God’s passion and desire is that the lost would come to repentance-“… [God] does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9, NLT).
Is it any surprise then, that God wants us to do the same? Should we be shocked that the Good Shepherd wants us to go after the lost like He did when He sought us when we are lost? This responsibility apparently surprised Cain in Genesis 4.
Cain was the son of Adam and Eve and the older brother of Able. One day the two brothers brought offerings to the Lord-“…Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering-fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor…” (Genesis 4:2-5, NIV).
Because Cain’s offering was not received with favor from God, Cain’s heart burned with anger and jealousy towards his brother. So in a hurricane of rage and fury, Cain took his brother Able out into a field and murdered him in cold blood (Genesis 4:8). Later that same day when the Lord approached Cain, the first thing He asked Cain was, “…Where is your brother Able?” (Genesis 4:9, NIV) to which Cain replied, “I don’t know…am I my brother’s keeper?” Basically Cain told God that he didn’t feel responsible for his brother’s whereabouts or actions, only his own.
But God was not satisfied with Cain’s selfish answer just as He was not satisfied with his half-hearted offering. And in more or less words, God continued on to tell Cain that he was in fact his brother’s keeper…just like we all are.
It is so easy for us to only focus on ourselves and block out the problems of everybody else, but as God’s children (1 John 3:1) and imitators of Christ (Ephesians 5:1), we, like Jesus, must run to those who are cast away, left out, and forgotten by the world to seek and save those who are lost. Because just like all of that hard earned money that different establishments rightfully owe you, God paid a hefty price, “…not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2, NIV). And He did this not so the lost could remain unclaimed, but rather so that He could win them back into His Kingdom through you and me.
God has called us all to join Him in this lost and found mission. He has called us all to be our brother’s keeper. What are you going to do today to help reclaim the Lord’s property?
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
1 http://business.time.com/2011/03/24/billions-in-unclaimed-cash-just-waiting-to-be-claimed/
