Matthew 18 includes the Parable of the Lost Sheep:
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”
Matthew 18:12-14 (NLT)
We (people) are compared to sheep more than once the Scriptures. It actually happens earlier in Matthew’s Gospel: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
The comparison is embarrassingly accurate.
First and foremost, sheep are completely dependent upon their shepherds for survival. They need guidance to find food and water. They have no natural defense against predators. Their own wool will grow until it blinds them if they are not regularly shorn. We, like sheep, are vulnerable without our Shepherd’s care.
We have something else in common with sheep: a tendency to stray (see Isaiah 53:6). We wander off and find ourselves in places we should never be, doing things we should not do.
I wish this wayward tendency was obliterated the moment we come to Christ, but it isn’t. Matthew 18 is, in fact, a chapter about the care and disciple of God’s children–our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We can and do stray, even as believers.
Here’s the amazingly good news of the parable: God doesn’t give up on His wayward children. I can hardly describe the comfort I find in this truth!
His concern, in fact, is only heightened when we lose our way. He is much like the mother who momentarily loses sight of her child: the concerned response will be immediate and the joy at finding the child will be immense. The wayward sheep is not more valuable than the others, but its need is greater until it is found.
You may be in a season of disobedience as you read this post. I cannot promise you that your life will be everything it could have been had you walked in obedience. But I can promise that there is One who pursues you relentlessly and awaits your response. It only takes one step of obedience to find His joyful embrace.
No matter how far you go, there is always a path called forgiveness back to God.
AW Tozer
