Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people -- even eating with them!
So Jesus used this illustration:
"If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it?
And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders.
When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.
In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!
"Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it?
And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin.
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." LUKE 15:1-10
God is teaching us here that as the lost sheep and lost coin are important to the Shepherd and the Woman, so are lost people important to Him. As the two go to great lengths to find the lost sheep and coin, so God goes to great lengths to find the lost of this world. And finally, as the two take great measure in rejoicing over finding that which was lost, God and His angels rejoice when a lost person (unsaved / back sliden) is found! If the lost are so important to God (remember, we were once lost ourselves) shouldn't they be important to us too? God Bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment