Matthew 18:12
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
Sometimes when I read scripture it bothers me. This bother usually comes from a selfish or prideful place. Today's gospel is definitely an example of that.
I feel like one of the sheep that Jesus would walk away from to rescue another. Until I really stop and remember. It can be easy to forget the times you've gone astray. For me when I look back 15-20 years ago I think about a lot of bad choices I made and praise God for his mercy. I know I was that sheep. I wasn't a sheep that was anti-shepherd but I was definitely not part of his flock.
And even now, as I want to pretend like I am a top notch sheep (or whatever a high performing sheep would be called) when I am honest with myself, there are still places where Jesus is seeking me out. Parts of my life that he wants to rescue me from. I pray for all of us today that we can see what parts of us need to be redeemed and never forget that Jesus has and will always come find us.
