God Never Gives Up

Luke 15:4

 

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?"

Psalm 23 is a classic passage that portrays us as sheep and God as our Shepherd:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. (verses 1–3)

Sheep are so dumb that sometimes they have to be forced to eat their food. If a shepherd doesn't guide them, they will stay in the same place, poking in the dirt, even after the grass is long gone. They also have to be led to water so they will drink.

This psalm goes on to say, "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (verse 4). The shepherd has his rod and his staff, which he has to use with his wayward flock. The rod is a club, and the staff is a long, crooked instrument. When sheep go astray, their shepherd pulls them in with his staff. If a predator or a threat comes, he uses his rod to protect the flock. But sometimes he uses his rod on his sheep if he has to discipline them so they will not end up dead somewhere.

Even though God loves us and has our best interests in mind, sometimes we go astray. So what does God do in those circumstances? He looks for us.

In Luke 15, Jesus gives three pictures of how God searches for us. One is that of a shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep and goes looking for the one that went astray. He does not stop searching until he finds it. And that is something we need to remember about God. He will keep seeking. Despite our wandering, He never gives up on us./

The rabbi's believed that God would receive a sinner who came to Him the right way. But in the parable of the shepherd and the sheep, Jesus teaches that God actively seeks out the lost. God does not grudgingly receive the lost. Instead, He searches after them. God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.

This was a completely alien thought to Jesus’ audience of religious leaders. They believed they were more righteous than others were because they had diligently sought God and others had not. Likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance: There is joy in heaven when the lost are found and they come to repentance. Even though there may be no joy among the Pharisees, there is joy in heaven!