Lost No More

by Jane Josephs

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. –John 10:14

Throughout the Bible, God’s people are referred to as sheep, often not in a complimentary context. The prophet Isaiah rails: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray…” (Is. 53:6), affirming the fact that sheep are known for wandering off and getting lost. Jeremiah chimes in with: “My people have been lost sheep…” (Jer. 50:6a). But Jesus shows us the value of just one sheep when he tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:4-7).

Luke sets up the story by telling us the tax collectors and sinners were gathered around Jesus to hear His teaching, while the Pharisees and teachers of the law were there to complain and find fault. Jesus says, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them” (Luke 15:4). And my mind immediately jumps to some questions in hopes of digging a little deeper: How did the sheep get lost? Why did it wander away? Or is it just a case of the grass is greener on the other side? And what about the ninety-nine? Shouldn’t they have been looking out for each other?

And it’s here that I took a break from writing and asked my husband what he thought. And he said:

“It takes insight and awareness to understand what might contribute to one’s being lost. Was the lost sheep hard of hearing? The idea is that Jesus knows where we are and continues to ‘go out of His way’ in love to chase us down. We need to look to Him for the hearing aids that we need to experience His abundant, rescuing love.”

And so, now it’s your turn, dear friend. Why do you think the one sheep wandered away? Do you know anyone like that? What can you do about it?

Dear Lord, give us ears to hear and eyes to see the lost among us. Help us be quick to listen and slow to judge, knowing You sent your only Son, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. In Your name we pray, Amen.