THE FAITHFUL SHEPHERD - Matthew 18:12-14
THE FAITHFUL SHEPHERD - Matthew 18:12-14
What Does it Say? “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
How Does it Apply? We have an awesome God! If there were ever any question about the goodness of God, what He does here should take away any chance of questioning. He does everything He can, short of turning us into robots, to help us make wise choices. He tells us that we will face temptations and it is very serious that we make every effort to avoid them. He also loves us enough to go after us and lead us back to safety when we stray. I grew up on a farm. One of the responsibilities my siblings and I had over the summer was to go with some cows as they grazed in the ditches along the road close to our home. Our job was to keep the cows together and off the road (a quiet country road) and bring them home by supper time. We were looking out for the best interest of the cows, but when they decided the grass was greener a little further away, it was hard to bring them back. Sometimes we were busy playing and didn't notice a cow was wandering off until it was quite a ways down the road. We would have to leave the rest of the cows while we chased down the renegade cow. We weren't impressed with the interruption from playing to go chase a stupid cow. I'm sure glad that's not God's attitude when we wander off. God knows we are human, and in spite of all He has done to protect us, we will make bad choices and it will cost us. When one of our Lord's little lambs goes missing, He leaves the rest of the flock and immediately goes looking for it. When He finds it, He gently picks it up and carries it back to the flock. He doesn't punish it, He just holds it, thankful that is safe. God provides for all our needs and we don't need to stray. He tries to prevent us from falling into sin. When we make mistakes, there are always consequences and we and the people we love will suffer. God wants to protect us from that. We are very blessed that God loves us so much. Think about how God has protected you and thank Him?