Wandering Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

¹⁰ “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Have you ever wondered what the will of the Father is?  Well it tells us right here in verse 14!  It is His will that all His sheep are together. 

First let’s take into consideration who He is talking about?  Is everyone considered “His sheep”.  No, unless you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you cannot be considered one of His sheep.  Are you considered one of His sheep?  If so, we know that He would pursue you to make sure that you are not lost. In fact, He would leave 99 other sheep to come after you.  If that is the will of the Father it should be our desire as well. 

Tie all of that back to verse 10 when He is speaking of the “little ones”.  Before the age of accountability I would say all of these children are His sheep and He does not want any of them to perish.  It is His will that every baby born into this world be given the opportunity to know Him.  Yet I see so many in this world being raised by the world’s standards and not Christ standards.  We are causing the little ones to stray from their creator and many of them have no idea that they are doing so.  Most Christians became a Christian before the age of 18.  Yet we seem to forget that when it comes to evangelizing our children. 

The day after our Easter break at school I asked the students how many of them attended church on Easter Sunday and only one out of 20 students had attended some type of Easter service.  That really opened my eyes to the fact that we are not reaching and our children.  They are wandering out there in this corrupt world and they don’t have any idea where they are going.  Someone is missing in their lives and we are not going out there and showing them who it is.

Each one of us needs to ask ourselves, “Am I going out and looking for the wandering lost sheep or am I letting it stray away?”  The flock is being scattered.  What is our part in gathering them back?

As you seek Him and find Him, I trust that you will share in His will that all the flock will be gathered to Him.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila