Never Lost

"Jesus is in the lost sheepfinding business."

JESUS SOUGHT THE LOST SHEEP. He didn’t wait for the sheep to figure out it was lost and find its way home. He went after it, and having found it, He didn’t ask it to repent first, to repeat a series of confessions, or to relive what’d happened to it. He picked it up and placed it on His shoulders.

Jesus is in the lost sheepfinding business.

The father ran toward the prodigal son. He didn’t ask for an explanation nor for the son to sign a contract for the return of funds. He eagerly embraced him. He then killed the fatted calf, at his own expense, and invited everyone to celebrate his son’s return. The prodigal son did nothing to deserve it. He simply came home, knowing his father would feed him.

God’s love overflows with compassion. Not sympathy. We don’t only feel sorry for someone, but holding in our hands, God’s heartbeat, we look for those who are sinking, and we lift them up. We do so at the expense of our time, our funds, our best efforts. We give, not expecting anything in return because that’s what God did for us.

Our Savior died although it wasn’t His sins. He’d never done a single thing wrong, yet the weight of what all of mankind had committed and would commit rested on Him. All our mental traumas, all our physical sicknesses, every worry and anxious thought, all suicidal emotions, all our anger and bitterness, and every stupid mistake we have done out of ignorance or pride, all of it was healed with the stripes on His back. All of it is underneath His shed blood.

And having forgiven us, having provided deliverance and healing, He becomes the celebration as well. He is the new wine poured into our new wineskins. Having been reborn through the power of the Holy Spirit, we stand whole in His presence, the joy on His face, ours to behold. The Great Shepherd rejoices at the finding of the lost sheep, at the healing of its wounds. The Father of all fatherhood is delighted at the return of His sons and daughters, as delighted in us as He is in His beloved Son, the King of the whole earth.

“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10)

When Jesus was born, all of heaven sang because the Christ had come to show God’s good will toward men. And thirty-three years later, heaven announced He had risen from the dead. Angels are messengers for the heirs of salvation. Salvation for mankind was the beat of God’s heart because His love for individuals, for people, is so great.

Jesus became a sheep in order to save the sheep. Tempted in all points, in every way, just as we are by the things of the world around him, He understands the pressures of life and knows what it’s like to be deep in the wilderness, with nothing around Him but snakes. He came to earth to seek lost people. No one is too sick in heart and mind, too broken, nor too far in the dark for God to reach them. No matter how lost we have become, the Father’s love is abundant to rescue and restore everything (and much more) that His generous heart provided when Jesus rose again.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“I’m homesick, GOD, for your salvation; I love it when you show yourself! Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul. And should I wander off like a lost sheep—seek me! I’ll recognize the sound of your voice.” (Psalm 119:175-176 MSG)

Image by Burst on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com