...leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one
When King David began Psalm 23 with “The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need” (NLT), he knew what he was writing long before Jesus, the Messiah came on the scene and began his earthly ministry some 1000 years later.
I was reminded of my good shepherd today (John 10) as I listened to a song recorded by Cory Asbury entitled “Reckless Love” (follow the YouTube link below for the song/lyrics). It speaks to how our good shepherd loves us, his sheep, so overwhelmingly that, when one of us has wandered off, he recklessly leaves his flock in order to seek out the one that’s been lost.
We see this principle taught twice by Jesus in the New Testament, Matthew 18 and Luke 15. He says “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost? 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. 14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones be lost” (Matthew 18:12-14, AMP).
Tears spring to my eyes as I consider how the Lord unwaveringly pursues me. He won’t relent until he has all of me. The bridge of the above-mentioned song says “There’s no shadow You won’t light up, [no] mountain You won’t climb up, coming after me. There’s no wall You won’t kick down, [no] lie You won’t tear down, coming after me.” The hymn lyricist John Wilbur Chapman put it this way: “Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a friend! Saving, helping keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.”
If you don’t personally know this good shepherd of mine OR, if you do but you’re lost, remember, he will leave the other ninety-nine just to find you.