“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.” Luke 15:6b (NKJV)
One of my favorite Bible stories is about the “Lost Sheep,” and one of my favorite hymns is “The Ninety and Nine,” about the Lost Sheep. It wasn’t until I went to a church and saw a picture of Jesus carrying a lamb on his shoulders with the title, “The Lost Sheep,” that my
heart was touched and I thought, “That’s me! That’s me!”
I was the lost lamb that no one ever missed or searched for, but now I saw a picture of Jesus gently carrying the lost lamb back to the
flock. I couldn’t look at the picture without getting tears in my eyes. The hymn says there were ninety and nine sheep in the flock . . . but
one was missing and the Good Shepherd went out to search for his lost sheep. “This of mine has wandered away from me. I go to the desert to find my sheep.”
The sheep was probably just grazing and eating grass and wandered away. Soon he had drifted away from the flock and was hopelessly lost in the wilderness where there were wild animals. He could have been eaten by a bear or a lion, but imagine the joy both the shepherd and the lamb felt when they saw each other.
The shepherd didn’t yell at the lamb. He didn’t scold him or lecture him. He gently swept the lamb up in his arms and put him over his shoulders and took him home. I believe it was a lamb because a lamb weighs about 20 pounds, and a full grown sheep can weigh over 200 pounds.
When the shepherd got home with his lamb, he called his friends and neighbors together and said, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost” Luke 15:6b (NKJV).
Lord, when we get lost, we trust You to search for us and bring us home.
— Crying Wind
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org