Luke 15:8–10 (NKJV)

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Imagine this happening in your neighborhood. Would you go to her celebration? Her overreaction to finding a misplaced coin is just plain strange.

Some of the most important passages in Scripture are the most puzzling ones. We’re puzzled by them because we don’t think the way Jesus thinks. We need to see His point and adjust our attitude.

Last week, we saw the kingdom of heaven mostly in terms of its growth. This week, we want to see it in terms of style. The kingdom of heaven has the mindset of heaven, which is rather heavenly.

At first glance, this looks like “any excuse for a party.” Heaven is a joyful place, so maybe they just celebrate every chance they get—sort of like they do at The Magic Kingdom in Disney World.

But that’s not it, and Jesus makes this clear. “I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The one coin represents a single sinner who repents. This teaches an important and profound point—a single sinner who repents is significant in the kingdom of heaven.

Despite the grand scope of His creation, God cares about us individually. Even though we’re comparatively microscopic, each one of us is important.

The LORD’s attention to detail is almost incomprehensibly wonderous. He even listens to our prayers.

I’ve never been able to get used to that.

The kingdom of heaven has a different attitude. It sees everything from a different perspective, through a different lens.

Our job as Christians is to try to learn to see things from that perspective. That’s not easy. We were born with worldly eyes.

That’s why so much of Jesus’s teaching was through parables. He’s stretching our imagination.

As we walk through some examples of heavenly thinking, try to see yourself in these situations.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. — John 15:7 (NIV)

Growth in Christ means conforming our will to His.

All the weekly study guides, which include all five devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies