A poem from prison
Below is a poem written by one of the dads in our curriculum at Hutchins State Jail where I teach each Wednesday. Since I have written poetry most of my life, I was encouraged by Dustin S. and his ability to grasp a subject and express it poetically. Us ‘rhymers’ stick together! Dustin shared that he had not ever read the Scriptures concerning the lost coin as taught by Jesus in the Gospels. When he did, he was led to pen this poem and I for one think he deserves publishing.
As you read, remember that Dustin is serving a sentence and I am sure at times felt lost and unloved. This is a part of his personal testimony I believe. And reflects what many of his fellow inmates have experienced along their way. Lean into his message.
The Lost Coin
By Dustin E.
Inspired by Luke 15:8
If you feel like a big disgrace;
Feel like you’re lost and out of place;
Don’t have any idea where you’re going;
Feel like an old and discarded lost coin.
Do not fear what is around;
He will not give up until you are found.
He is eager and waiting for you to join;
He will never give up on the lost coin.
We celebrate the Savior, we celebrate the saved;
Like the coin that was lost but found today.
We run in the streets welcoming others to join;
To celebrate the finding of the lost coin.
We didn’t deserve it;
But we received it that day.
For it is by grace through faith
That we have been saved.
He sacrificed Himself,
Not thinking the cost;
He gave us his life
For the coin that was lost.
Share the good news
You might interpret the parable of the lost coin some other way, but this is how Christ spoke to Dustin. And I sense his personal joy in being ‘found’. That’s what saved coins do—they run to tell others—sharing with other lost coins that Jesus loves them and they can be found also.
Maybe you can now understand a little better why I for 48 years continue to go each week to a prison. So many ‘lost coins’ for which Jesus lived and died. It’s not always pretty, even discouraging some times, but then a Dustin comes along and you realize you have met Jesus there, working in and through His word to capture another heart, another ‘lost coin’. You know you were right where He wanted you today.
Dads, do you also have some ‘lost coins’ in your family, maybe your own children? Wouldn’t it be the greatest joy to help them be found by Jesus? Are you living out the gospel in such a way that if they were looking to be found by Jesus, they would find Him in you? And would you be able to share the gospel with them in such a clear way, they would have no problem being ‘found/saved’?
10 words for salvation
It really is simple—God made it that way. Larry Moyer, founder of EvanTell, narrows it down to ten words. The gospel by which you may be saved is: “Christ died for my sins, and rose from the grave.” Go now to I Corinthians 15.1-5. These ten words are a capsule of the central message by Paul as he was explaining salvation to the Corinthians, and now to us. We are all ‘lost coins’ until we are found. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Dads, do not let the sun set on you and your children until you give them the opportunity to be ‘found’.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 Jn. 1:4 NKJV). Dustin would tell you as a son and as a dad; pursue your lost coins until they are found. And when that happens, observe carefully what they might write in a note, a text, a poem or letter to someone else who is lost. You just can’t keep from spreading ‘good news’. And that’s the gospel! Thank you, Dustin.
