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One day Jesus was talking to His followers. He said three sentences that we have entitled the Parable of the Lost Sheep. It was one of the times He used things His audience would understand to explain what might be incomprehensible to them.

Let’s try to reason out why the sheep got lost. In this illustration, there was a shepherd with his flock in fields. We don’t know if it was an action of Shepherd or if Sheep was responsible for getting lost. It may have been a bit of both.

We don’t know why Shepherd (if he did) wanted the flock to move. Maybe they had eaten all the grass in the area. Maybe there was more water elsewhere. Since they were out in the open, Shepherd could have felt in danger there. It could have been it was just time to go home.

We don’t know how little Sheep got separated. Maybe he wasn’t paying attention when Flock exited the area. He could have been sick and just wanted to stay put. Maybe he was being rebellious: who was that old Shepherd telling him what to do? Maybe he just started chasing a butterfly and wandered off.

In any event, Sheep was not with Flock.

After Shepherd got Flock where they were going, Shepherd eventually does a nose count. Oh, no! He is missing a sheep!!!! Now what do most of us do when we are facing a math problem? Recount. It didn’t work this time, either. He was still missing a sheep.

Now, Shepherd has some choices. Since they spent so much time out of doors, he would expect to lose some sheep. He could have just written off the loss of Sheep as the consequences of doing business.

If Shepherd and Flock moved, we don’t know how far they went before the nose count. Shepherd would have to backtrack with no guarantee that a wild animal hadn’t gotten Sheep or that he had wandered off from where they had been. Shepherd might miss him altogether, even though he passed really close.

Besides, Sheep was jut one sheep. There was nothing really special about him. Flock was 99. It doesn’t make business sense to put Flock in jeopardy just for one sheep.

Shepherd didn’t care. He decided to go back for Sheep. And he finds him!!!!!!

Can’t you just picture Shepherd running and throwing his arms around Sheep’s neck when he sees him? Can’t you hear him babbling that he missed him, asking him if he is alright. Telling Sheep how scared he was for him. If Shepherd is going to go through all this trouble looking for Sheep, he isn’t just going to say, “Oh, there you are.”

Then picture Shepherd picking Sheep up in his arms to carry him home. He puts Sheep on his shoulders like we do a little kid. Yep, he is probably still talking.

That whole story was to show how Jesus is Shepherd and we are Sheep. He will come to where we are to get us when we go astray. It doesn’t make business sense for Jesus to come after us, but He does. We are that important to Him.

Can you imagine Jesus running up to us and throwing His arms around us? Can You imagine Him talking lovingly to us — even when we have willfully wandered off? He will. He loves us that much.

We probably don’t know as much about sheep herding as Jesus’ audience did. We do know what we feel when we lose a kid in some store [if you are a parent, it is going to happen. If you aren’t, you’ve seen the frantic expressions on parents’ faces when this has happened to them]. We know the sense of relief that even overpowers our sense of wanting to shake some sense into our kids.

We do know that Jesus loves us. He specifically came to earth to die so that man could reestablish a relationship with the Heavenly Father. He came with open arms – arms that were nailed to the cross because He loved us that much.

Merciful Heavenly Father. It is hard for us to fathom how much You love us. We are unworthy of Your love – but You love us anyway. We have asked Jesus to be our Savior and You to be our Father, yet we still sin – and You love us anyway. You come to us individually, convicting us each based on who we are and where we are. You come to us and throw Your arms around us – because You love us. We are humbled, Lord. Thank You. Amen.