A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Andrew Hough from UK’s prominent newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, once shared a story about a pensioner, Jack Harris, who spent seven-and-a-half years working on a 5,000-part jigsaw puzzle, only to find upon completion, that one piece was missing.  His daughter-in-law Eve bought the puzzle for him as a gift, which depicts James Tissot’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”  She said that when he finally began putting the final parts together he was dismayed to find that he had only 4,999 pieces with one tiny hole in the middle.  The whereabouts of the missing piece is a mystery, but the family believes it may have been thrown away by mistake or eaten by one of his son’s two dogs.  His daughter-in-law, who is married to his son Trevor, said, “He was just so disappointed when he found one bit was missing.  It’s sad really because now it will never be completed.”  A spokesman for Falcon Games, Ltd., the puzzle’s manufacturer, said they had stopped making that particular jigsaw and it would therefore be impossible for them to provide the final piece.  For Mr. Harris, the beauty of what the puzzle portrayed was overshadowed by one missing piece.  So it is in life.  No matter what our accomplishments, it is the missing pieces that dominate our focus.  It is that little void that draws our attention.  The portrait depicted in the puzzle is from a story Jesus told in Luke 19 about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.  Yetthe theme of Jesus’ story is one of finding that which was lost.  If today you are cognizant of a missing piece to your life, unlike Mr. Harris’ sad dilemma, Christ Jesus operates a “Lost and Found Department” that has a 100% track record of success.  He specializes in finding the missing piece, and restoring it to its rightful place, to make your life’s picture whole, with this and each new day.