The Lost Sheep and the Good Shepherd.
Here is another of the Parables Jesus told. Remember, a Parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
This story is about a lost sheep and of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Supposing there was a shepherd who kept a flock of a hundred sheep in the wilderness, and counted them at night, to see that none had strayed. If he should find one lost, some little lamb, that he had watched, and loved, and carried in his arms, would he not go at once in search of it? He would leave the ninety-nine other sheep in the wilderness and all night long he would go after the lost sheep, until he found it.
Although he would be cold, and maybe wet with rain his feet torn and bruised with the rough stoney ground, and his hands torn with the thorns and prickles, that good shepherd would give himself no rest until he could find the sheep. He would put it on his shoulder, and carry it home rejoicing. He would then call out to everyone, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
Boys and girls, we should be so glad to know that Jesus is like that. He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.” Like the shepherd in the parable, Jesus had to suffer to find His lost sheep. This He did a million times more, of course, for the Bible tell us that no one ever suffered like Jesus did, when He suffered and died on the cross for men and women, and boys and girls.
Perhaps you know this old hymn:-
“Jesus, the gentle Shepherd, stands, And calls His sheep by name; He leads them with His mighty hands, And feeds each tender lamb. He loved them in the ages past, And died that they might be His portion while the ages last – To all eternity.”