Have you ever gotten lost? I mean in Walmart when you were younger. What kind of feeling do you remember? I remember having that lump in my chest. That feeling where if you open your mouth to speak you are going to burst out in tears.
Maybe you have felt lost in a social sense. Your story of being lost may not be physically being out of sight from your mom or dad at Walmart, but rather, being out of sight of having friends, being out of sight of being popular, being out to of sight of knowing what you want to do in life. Having experienced being “lost” in this sense as well, I know that the feeling is similar- the knot in the chest and just feeling like you want to cry.
“Lost" can be used in a spiritual sense as well. Maybe you have been raised in the Church, but sin has gotten the best of you. You go to church and then you sin, you pray and then you sin, you try to do better and then you sin. You feel like you are out of sight of the God you once knew. I know how this feels as well, and the feeling is similar to the previous two.
In Luke 15, we read of the story of a lost sheep. According to the story, there was a shepherd who had one hundred sheep, and one wandered off. The shepherd left the ninety-nine to find the one. When he found the one, he carried it back home and threw a party to celebrate.
I want to look at this story from a different perspective than maybe we ever have before. Usually, we look at this parable from the perspective of the shepherd, or the other ninety-nine sheep. We talk about how we should be concerned for the one that got lost. But I want to look at things a little different. Imagine being that one sheep. Somehow you got lost, you don’t have any food or water, and you hear coyotes howling at night. All you want is your shepherd. You are horrified, you are lost. After days of being alone, suddenly, your shepherd rounds the corner. He has been on a mission to find you.
Are we not like this lost sheep? You may be right in the middle of feeling lost today. I want you to know that just like in Luke 15, there’s a Shepherd who left the comfort and safety of the pasture, He went through the rugged wilderness, and He’s on a mission to bring you home.
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15
Being lost isn’t an option anymore, there’s a Shepherd who gave up everything to find you.