"3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:3-7)
We have heard this parable many times and we think that we know what it means. Do you really believe that a good shepherd will leave 99 sheep to search for one? In reality that sounds pretty stupid. Because if he goes to find one sheep, the 99 sheep will scatter because they have no leader. The will be eaten by wolves with no one to protect them. It is not sound business sense to go after one. The good shepherd in this case will cut his losses and pay closer attention to the 99 so he won't lose any more.
Jesus wasn't just talking about any good shepherd. Jesus was talking about himself. Jesus is not happy if even one of his flock (us) gets lost. Because Jesus loves each one of us, he will look for his lost sheep until he can bring them back into the fold. Jesus does not cut his losses, and concentrate his efforts on the 99 who did not get away. He will look for us and call to us until he finds us. He will not stop, he will not let one of his sheep stay lost. When he hears us cry out, he will come to get us, where we are. We don't even have to go to him, he will come to us because of his great love for us. And he celebrates that his lost sheep was found.
Are you lost? Call out to Jesus and he will come and care for you.
Peace and love,
Sue
"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)
No comments:
Post a Comment