Before Jesus said a word, his actions spoke volumes—he was eating with “sinners,” and the religious crowd couldn’t handle it. Their pride and judgment were on full display, and in response, Jesus told three powerful stories that revealed God’s heart. A heart that loves more—loves first, loves when we’re a mess, loves when we walk away. These stories challenge us: Have we let that kind of love change us? Do we look more like Jesus or more like the ones who judged him? And who are we making room for at our table?

It doesn’t make sense to leave 99 sheep to chase one that wandered off—but that’s exactly what Jesus says the Good Shepherd does. In response to the judgmental muttering of the religious crowd, Jesus tells three parables—simple, relatable stories with deep spiritual truths. And they all aim at one thing: our hearts. In the first story, a sheep doesn’t rebel—it just drifts. Distracted, unaware, and vulnerable—just like us. But the Shepherd notices. He sees the one that no one else sees. He pursues. That’s the kind of love Jesus has for you. It might not make sense to us, but it makes perfect sense to a God whose love goes further than we can imagine.

The parable of the lost coin hits differently—because the coin didn’t run off, it was simply misplaced. It didn’t rebel; it was just lost in the house. Like us. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling lost—not because we’ve left God, but because we’ve misplaced things like our identity, purpose, or security. And just like the woman searching for the coin, God doesn’t stop looking. He’s not just in the business of finding the lost—He’s all about restoring what’s been misplaced. Your story, your worth, your place still matter to Him.

Maybe you've heard it said, "it's not how you start it's how you finish." Which is 100 percent true but also sometimes how I start is a disaster and sets the whole tone for the journey. This story didn't start well and it started well before the son asked for his inheritance and left the father. It started small, subtle, and internal. Maybe with a little dissatisfaction, maybe he started comparing his life with his brothers, maybe he was romanticizing life outside the house, had some unresolved frustration or was indulging private fantasies. What it was let him to a point where he made a decision. It always is a decision that we make after indulging the internal that leads to all the rest.