The Good Shepherd

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.” Luke 15:4-6, NIV

WE WERE CIRCLED UP, sharing dinner menus and parenting strategies. Children ping-ponged around us as the sun warmed our backs. The sidewalks were full of chalk drawings, and the yards were littered with bikes and soccer balls. As parents, we were always outnumbered by the children on our street, but more so than usual that day. I had two foster kids for the week while their foster parents took a much-needed vacation.

As the other moms and I chatted, I started to take count of all the kids. I could see each of them but one—the three-year-old boy I had just taken in. He had just been on the neighbor’s tricycle ten seconds before. Now he’d gone Houdini on me.

I kept my cool, expecting him to pop back up among the other kids any second. But seconds turned into minutes, and by that point, I had abandoned my cool and started running around the house to find him. He was nowhere. I heard shouting come out of my own mouth, pleading for help from any and all neighbors. One of the oldest neighbor girls huddled up some of the other children on Rollerblades, and they immediately split up, calling out his name.

I lapped my neighbor’s house and was on to the next, my panic escalating.

I just lost one of my children. And he’s not even mine. I’ve had him for one whole hour, and now he’s gone. Dear Jesus, please. Where is he?

“Found him!” one of the children called.

There’s nothing sweeter than the sound of a lost child being found. I hugged my neighbors, thanked the children for their search, and wrapped my arms around our found boy. We all gathered back together and sighed one large maternal sigh of relief.

Where was this stealthy three-year-old? Sidled up to the neighbors’ kitchen table, drinking someone else’s sippy cup. He had opened their door, made himself at home, and quenched his thirst.

Jesus tells a similar story. A shepherd had one hundred sheep, but one had wandered off. Maybe this sheep went to quench his thirst or check out the neighbors’ pasture or follow his curiosity. Who knows. But the shepherd knew he had to find him. In the shepherd’s mind, every single sheep mattered—enough to leave the ninety-nine.

And after finding the sheep, the shepherd gathered all his friends together and they rejoiced because the one that was lost was now back in the fold. What a good, good shepherd.

I am so thankful that Jesus would drop anything for just one sheep. He would leave the others who are safe and find the one who is in danger. He would do it for me. He would do it for you. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus would have died on the cross if no one was lost but you? Every person He created is so precious to Him, so valuable, so loved. Grace looks like our Good Shepherd coming after one precious lost sheep and bringing it home.

GRACE REFLECTION: Pray with me, “God, thank You for always going after Your lost sheep. Thank You for rescuing us from danger and delighting in our return. Help me to always stay close to Your side. Amen.”