The Lost One
Christ told us a parable about a shepherd who has 100 sheep that lost
one and he then left the 99 in order to look for the lost one. (Luke 15:4).
Yes, indeed. We should and how happy could we be if we find the
missing one.
Unfortunately, in the reality of our life, we tend to be more concerned
about the 99 rather than exerting any effort to find the lost one.
What or who is this lost sheep in the reality of our life?
We are engulfed with so many personal duties and responsibilities to
God, to man and to ourselves. We have so many ‘apparently’ insignificant
responsibilities demanded of by our family, wife, husband, children,
parents, brothers, sisters that come along and often times in conflict with
our high sounding commitments to some areas of our social, business,
political or professional life.
Which among these is our preference?
We like to be the star of the game rather than playing the game itself.
We prefer to achieve high-sounding accomplishments even to the extent of
disregarding the basic ingredients of our social endeavor. We do not care
for the lost sheep as long as we are in possession of the 99.
The basic ingredient in the maintenance and growth of family relations is an
expression of love. How often do we disregard this basic ingredient in favor
of high fluting activities inside the home that surreptitiously erode our family
ties?
Are not wealth, power, and honor among the dominant 99 that we so
tightly embrace that our hands fall short of reaching out to and touching the
personal needs of our family household which should be of primary
concern and of our priority in the list of importance?
Who really appears to be much closer to my heart, my benefactors or
my beneficiaries?
Who are pleasant to my eyes, the “good people” or the
“bad ones?”
When we start stepping on the top ladder of social recognition, we begin
to delegate our “insignificant” but basic responsibilities to those others
lower in rank.
But how sure are we to have that power to abandon that “lost Sheep” to others, only to satisfy ourselves in caring for the 99 higher echelon or personal desires?
How often do we condemn or at least compare with contempt our
problem child in the family with those others who seem to have our
affiliation?
We seem to care more for the 99 than for the lost one.
Together, in our own sphere, let us seek to find the lost sheep in our
fold. The destitute sinners (the nuisance, people that pissed you off, the
annoying, the ungrateful that after you helped them out you were still the
bad person) should be our priorities in our apostolates.
Feel the unqualified joy we can experience when a rabid enemy
becomes our closest friend.
That is the kind of joy that we share with our Lord when we witness the life of a converted sinner who is fully enlightened and thus, now, wholeheartedly serves and glorifies our Lord in His daily life.
We are like doctors sent by our Lord to cure the sick and not the
healthy. So, we should not seek to be understood but to understand and
not to be favored but to favor the needy.
My dear friend, have you already experienced losing a sheep?
How did you find it back?
Were you also, once upon a time, been lost in the wilderness of life?
How were you found?
Recent Comments
15
I am walking with God, I don't seek to be understood, but I do favor the needy!! I work every day to reclaim lost sheeps, I was in the wilderness of life at one time, I am one of his "Disciples"
I was lost, but now I am found, was blind but now I see.
Everyday I wake up, I say "Thank you God" I say a prayer in the morning and at night, God is the one I talk to in the morning, and the last one I talk too at night. "GOD ID GOOD".
Hallelujah! Yes and more yes, Dorothy.
God is so good to all of us and we all
at one time or another has been lost
and were found, been blind and now
we can see and with our regained life
with a more enlightened and brighter
vision, we all can go out and live our
lives and proclaim the Good News.
Praise God for you, Dorothy, and we
all continue to pray for one another
for our own good and the good of all
mankind.
God bless you more, Dorothy!
Elizabeth
Thank you, Jim, and hopefully
it will sink into our subconscious
mind including mine as we all
do sometimes forget what we
are here for in this world.
God loves you, Jim more than
you know.
Elizabeth
Thank you, Jeff, and yes and it is
more of a deep reflection for all
of us even for me especially at
this time of the year.
Thank you once again and
continue to walk with the Lord.
Elizabeth
May the stripes of Jesus Christ
healed all of you especially
Monica by divine right, under
grace in God's own perfect
ways.
God be with all of you, Jeff.
Elizabeth
DivineGood, Thanks for the real blog. We should have love in the inner castle of our hearts.
Hello Mizanur,
You are most welcome and thank you
much more for such a beautiful
message that we do sometimes
take for granted.
God loves you more than you'll
ever know, Mizanur!
Elizabeth
See more comments
Very thought provoking Elizabeth.
I also learned this parable in my early years, and was aghast that 99 had been left to their own devices while time was spent on finding the lost one.
Now as an adult, amongst adults, I'm not entirely sure about the lost. Sometimes people just want to go it alone. Its unlikely that I would ever deny or reject them, but I don't know that I would spend the time on persuading them to return to the fold, certainly not at the expense of others.
But I would probably help someone else's lost sheep, because I think that is what sometimes happens; the lost one wants to be in a different group. As I did.
Yes, Michael, thank you so much.
Sometimes it is just best to leave
them alone and in so doing they
will find their own way to their own
senses, hopefully, and eventually
come to their senses.
But of course, depending on the
circumstances of the events as
there are situations in life that we
do really have to take action right
away to save a life and thus create
an atmosphere of honest caring
and sincere love with pure intention.
Thank you again, Michael.
God be with you always in all ways.
Elizabeth