KEY PASSAGE
Luke 15:4-7 (NIV): “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
THE MEAT
When I was a young kid, I’m not sure how old, I got lost in the mall; only I didn’t know I was lost. Truth be told, I think it was my mom that was lost. Ok, she THOUGHT I was lost but I knew where I was, LOL. So, Mom and I got separated at the mall. I thought she knew I was going to the restroom but somehow my wires were crossed. The next thing I knew, a mall security guard swept in to save the poor lost child who, again, didn’t know she was lost/missing. Mom appeared thrilled that the nice mall-cop found her wayward red-head.
Now, I’ve never lost a human before, but one time, my dog, Daisy, followed another dog into the deep woods. She had never been back in the thick woods before so I was FRANTICALLY looking for her and calling out. Probably 20 minutes passed and she trotted out like nothing was wrong, oblivious to the fact that she was missing…. Sound familiar???!?!? LOL! The immense sigh of relief that I felt when I heard her maneuvering through the brush was great. I wanted to scoop her up and not let her out of my sight again.
Now, back to the key passage….
This is passage is known as “the parable of the lost sheep.” Jesus spoke in parables in order to get a very important point across to His followers by using imagery of common things people would understand; i.e. sheep, coins, seeds, prodigal son, etc.
In this parable He speaks of a poor little sheep who wanders off while grazing in a lush field. Now, it’s important to note that a shepherd has a hard job; a stinky one, literally, but a very important one. He is tasked to lead/guide/maneuver tons of animals over miles and miles of land. They take their job seriously. A shepherd KNOWS each individual sheep. He knows their patterns of behavior, their mannerisms, & their markings by heart and He spends every waking, and sleeping, moment with these sheep. He KNOWS them. The shepherd sees one missing and must go find it. He leaves the “ninety-nine” in the open country. Notice that he does not leave them in some overgrown brush where they will not have food to eat while he is gone. He searches high and low, when, at last, he sees the poor thing. Sheep aren’t the brightest bearer of wool, and I imagine that it didn’t know it was missing either. (Sound familiar? LOL)
What does it say the shepherd does? He JOYFULLY puts the sheep on his shoulders, carries it home, and tells everyone the good news! He runs and tells everyone; not just one at a time but he gathers them around and tells them all. It’s a celebration of sorts. This is about a sheep. 1 of 100 sheep that wandered off. He had NINETY-NINE others. Did he REALLY need to go find that one? YES! He was in charge of every single one of them. They were his charge. He protected them from predators, cared for the injured, led them to fresh water and plush grasslands. He knew them by name; each one was just as important as the other one.
This is JUST how God is with us; we are His sheep and He is our shepherd. He loves, protects, cares for, and knows us each by name…. AND He rejoices when a lost child of His ‘comes back home’ to Him. The Heavens rejoice!
Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Can you imagine? At the time of my typing this, the world population is 8,305,794,042 (8.3 BILLION). Our Good Shepherd and the angels are rejoicing as each sheep comes home.
ASK YOURSELF
Are you wandering? Did you know that if you don’t know Him, you are a lost sheep. Don’t keep grazing near the cliff. Let me tell you how you can know our Shepherd and come home to Him!
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27
