I was reading this week in Luke 15 about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost (prodigal) son, and the study Bible I’m using for devotions this year contained a sidebar that asked this question: “How much do lost people matter?” The person who wrote the sidebar (Steven Mathewson) indicated that in these stories, the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son were each extremely valuable. He said, “In each case, the value of what’s lost dictated an intensive search. Jesus is saying that the value of lost people demands an intensive response.” He goes on to say, “Intensive searches happen only when we place a premium on the lost item. When we value lost people as Jesus did,outreach will happen…” Who do you know that is lost? How important is it to you to share the Gospel with them? The answer to those questions says a lot about how much you value them.