(Matthew 18:13) When God finds one lost sheep…
This beautiful verse of Matthew 18:13 comes at the end of a parable that Jesus told.
Jesus used the image of a shepherd watching over his 100 sheep.
He tells us that this shepherd will leave his 99 safe sheep behind, and walk for miles in search for one of his sheep that was lost. And when he finds this lost sheep, he will rejoice over it more than the 99 safe sheep grazing back on a hill.
This was not simply a good sheep story, it reveals the love that God has for us individually.
He is our Great Shepherd!
As our Great Shepherd, the Holy Spirit will leave 99 Christians safely behind, and will pursue the one lost person who is wandering around life with no direction and in darkness.
2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God does not want one person to perish.
Luke 19:10 tells us that Jesus came into our world to “seek and to save the lost.”
And when he or she is found, God will rejoice more over that one person than the 99 Christians safe back in a church service.
God rejoices over one lost person who has been found, and is now living their lives in a relationship with him.
This parable of Jesus is also telling us about God's heart toward each one of us.
God does not stop pursuing us after we have been found (saved)?
The Holy Spirit continues to guide and lead us individually. He draws us to him. He convicts us of sin. He protects us from wandering off his narrow road.
God does not simply sit on a transcendent cloud insisting that we come to him. No, the Holy Spirit pursues us when we are an unbeliever living in darkness, or a believer who is lost in live and wandering around aimlessly.
There is no place in our lives where God’s presence is not also there.
Although we might feel alone (lonely) and isolated, God is present with each one of us. There is nothing that can separate us from the pursuit of God's love.
God’s grace is unstoppable toward us.
God’s presence never leaves us, no matter where we are in life.
God’s love is always for us and never against us.
Let’s never forget this amazing truth about the heart of God.
Wherever you are, the Holy Spirit is also present.
Call upon him, for he rejoices over YOU!
God is pursuing YOUR heart right now!