“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” John 10:14I’ve heard many times how we humans are sheep, when this verse is read. Not having ever really known sheep, or even met one, it’s hard to see the significance of this first-hand. But did you notice - Jesus is comparing shepherds to the Father. And therefore, he’s comparing sheep to children. Now that I can understand.
Many of us have heard the parable of the lost sheep, one of a hundred in the flock - how the shepherd will leave the 99 and go out and search for the one until he finds it, and brings it home (Luke 15:3-7). I remember all the times I’ve seen distraught parents appealing to the public for help finding their lost child. It’s a common theme in movies and novels but finds its most distressing depiction in real life. From time to time, we hear of a parent who continues to search for the lost child many years later, still hoping, still believing that the child will be found and returned home. I’ve often wondered how they can go on, never giving up, still holding that space in their hearts and lives for the lost child.
Thinking about Jesus in this context, I begin to see that his loved is just like that. He never gives up on us, no matter how far we wander. He continues to call us home to his loving arms, even to the end of life. I knew a man once who, when I visited him at his deathbed, confessed that he had heard God calling to him all his life, but never answered. Now that he was dying, he regretted that and wished he could answer. He cried out to me that he wanted to go to heaven, but he thought that it would be a “cop-out”, at the last moment, to give his life over to the Lord after many years of ignoring Him and living a sinful and unredeemed life. Thank God! I was able to reassure him that it’s never too late to answer the call of the Spirit in our livcs. And I’m certain that as we prayed together, all the angels in heaven rejoiced over this one lost sheep,
who was found and returned to the fold.
Jesus is truly the lover of our souls. To paraphrase an old saying, He will search for you until you find him. Don’t be shy - answer him. And never think that God, loving Parent, will not want you to come home again. He has kept your room ready, and is standing at the door watching for you even now. Come home!
