How important is one lost sheep?

Something that someone said to me recently got me thinking, and I woke up at six this morning with this on my mind …

One of the biggest decisions that I’ve ever made in my life for God was to move from one country to another, without fully knowing why He was asking me to do it. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t see why I should move. But no matter which way I turned, I couldn’t escape the fact that God was speaking to my heart and asking me to leave the country that I was then living in to return to the country that I had come from. I’m sorry to say that it took me a while to obey, but eventually I moved.

I have never regretted that I followed God’s call, incomprehensible as it was at the time. And I will never forget the day (shortly after my move) when someone that I was speaking to about Jesus Christ suddenly asked me why I’d moved back to this country. I told her, “I had a strong sense from God that this is where I should be.” She looked puzzled, so I added (and I meant it), “I don’t know yet why God wanted me to be here. Perhaps it was for you.” I will never forget the look that went through her eyes as it dawned on her that Jesus might just consider her important enough to send someone specially to talk to her.

Do you know? Jesus does consider everyone that important. The bible says clearly in 2 Peter 3: 9 that “[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God does not desire that any should perish. That means that He will go to great lengths to ensure that people get to hear about His love for them.

To all who are out there who are still wondering if you should listen to that friend, that neighbour, that teacher, or that colleague who’s been telling you about Jesus, let me just say: There are no coincidences in life. They are there because Jesus considers you important enough to bring the two of you into the same sphere.

In the bible, in Luke 15: 4-6, Jesus tells this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’”

So the shepherd leaves 99 sheep in order to search for the ONE sheep that’s wandered off, and he is overjoyed when he finds the lost sheep. The implications of the parable should be clear. The individual matters to God. Even if there is just ONE person in need, open and ready to hear of God’s love, God would deem it “worthwhile” sending someone to reach him / her.

To all believers who are wondering why they’ve been called to a particular place when there are so few people for them to reach there, and wondering if there is “more” to their being there, I would say, Perhaps. Or perhaps not. I don’t know. But the size of our ministry shouldn’t matter. What matters is that we are faithful to seek God’s will, and to do what God has called us to do. If God has deemed ONE person in a particular place important enough to send us there to reach out to them, who are we to say that we need a few more “lost sheep” in order to make our time there “worthwhile”? The bible says that heaven rejoices when ONE person comes to Christ. (“There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10) ONE is all it takes for heaven to rejoice. Why is it then that we sometimes act as if ONE lost soul being found is not reason enough to rejoice?

Photo by Petr Kratochvil, http://www.publicdomainpictures.net