The Lost Sheep

The Lost Sheep (Lk 15:3-7 / Mt 18:11-14)

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  (Is 53:6)

Oh, we are sheep!  We wander ALL the time!  We follow others into dead ends, wasted time, endless pursuits of distraction and pleasure.  We get lost, we search to find our way until we are exhausted, then we plop down and bleat piteously.  Even our purposeful, intentional goals are often nothing more than wandering when considered in light of eternity!

What to do?  Through the years, men have developed standards and regulations in an attempt to gauge worth, to convince ourselves that we are indeed investing in things that matter.  All religion falls into that category.  Jesus challenged and shattered all the standards that we use - He routinely went against the religious thinking of His day when it came to choosing who He spent His time with. 

The story of the lost sheep was told in response to the charge that He spent all His time with sinners - with failures, people who weren't meeting the standards set by others.  Of course, those "others" were blind to the fact that Jesus Himself sets the only standard that matters, and they were failures too.  He was telling them that all men are like lost sheep - He has come to find each one of us, to bring us home and welcome us into His flock.  

So the first thing to consider is whether or not you have allowed Him to find you . . . have you responded to Him and allowed Him to embrace you, to forgive you, to cover your sin and give you new life with Him?  Have you surrendered to His care, accepting His leadership over you as your Shepherd?  If so, then rest in Him; rejoice in His goodness; enjoy His provisions for you.

Perhaps there is a day you can remember when you went from being a lost sheep to one of His sheep, but you have since wandered.  Have you chased after things outside the green pastures and still waters that He led you to?  Have you been deceived and followed the crowds into confusion, unable to find your way back?  He is your shepherd - His desire is to gather you back, bring you to safety, where He can once again provide for you and guide you.  Nothing you have chosen or have done is beyond the coverage He purchased at the cross, when all the iniquities of all of us were laid on him.  Don't let fear or guilt or shame cause you to delay even another second.  Call out to Him and you will find that He is right there with you!

Perhaps you have never come to the Shepherd at all - perhaps you have spent your entire life on your own, doing your best, or doing what you could, or simply wandering along.  You have a Shepherd who loves you.  You were never meant to be alone - He is not willing that ANY should live apart from Him in this lifetime or in eternity.  But you must be willing to come to Him - He does not force Himself on anyone.  Today - as you are reading this - you can call out to Him and He will be there.  You will be the lost sheep that He finds and rejoices over!  This Christmas, He will be your present and you will be His.  Staying lost is a choice, my friend.  Don't choose it.

(the link to the kid's post is:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-20.html)