Reading Matthew 18:10-14 on this cloudy Anchorage summer morning. Parable of the Lost Sheep. A guy owns 100 sheep. They belong to him. These sheep are loyal and depend on their owner for everything. But then one wanders away. I wonder if this sheep wandered on purpose or accident?
The guy leaves the 99 sheep grazing on the hillside to look for the sheep who got lost. One word in verse 13 jumped out to me. “And if he finds [the sheep]…he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did no wander off.” IF he finds it. This guy who owns the sheep probably knows the hillside very well and knows his sheep’s behavioral patterns. But he may not find this lost sheep.
When someone wanders off, it’s up to them if they want to get found.
When it comes to our connection to God, some of us may wander on accident. Or on purpose.
We wait for someone to rescue us. Bring us back. Make it okay. But we have to turn towards the one rescuing us. God will leave the other 99 sheep and come looking for us. Do we want to be found?
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One thing I like about this “if” is the method the shepherd would use to find the lost sheep.Sure, he could look all over the hill, using his eyes. And he might find the sheep. (But how often does that work with your cat?)But if he also uses his voice, he is far more likely to get the sheep to make itself known, rather than just being found.Kind of like God. God will call to us. Heck, he is calling each of us right now.Just have to open your ears to hear him!Then you can be found, too.
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Good observation. And like when I call to my beagle, she chooses when to respond and when to ignore me 🙂
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Jenny – I really appreciate your take on the passage here. I had skipped over the “if” many times and not given it a bit of attention.
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