Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep
and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine 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
ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15.3-7)
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Not long ago I completed what were for me the two most grueling years of my life. I finished a Masters degree in a school near Boston and just before graduation my father flew out to see me receive my diploma. He was there to celebrate.
Except he couldn’t.
He tried. But at each obligatory function his mind kept wandering. Back home my sister was going through a terrible time. Her marriage was breaking apart and dad’s heart seemed to follow suit. He loved me, but he was fixated for the moment on my sister. Because she was hurting.
According to Jesus, our Heavenly Father is a little like that. When even one of his sheep wanders from the fold, His heart goes with them. While we like to think that some people (perhaps the nice ones) matter to God a little more than the rest, Jesus says this isn’t so. God is obsessed--He is fixated--with every single one of us who has wandered from him. And more than that, HE goes after us. He pursues us till he finds us. Wrap your mind around that: God loves sinners. Every sinner. And it’s that love that brought you back to him.
With that in mind, here’s my prayer today:
God help me to see people as you do. As your Sheep.
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