I have always questioned the parable of the lost sheep. Why was the shepherd (Christ) so concerned about one lost sheep when He had ninety-nine others to tend? Was it not more important to guide and protect those sheep than to leave them to find the one that had gone missing?
Then my cousin sent me poem, and I understood, as I should have before, the significance of that lost sheep, especially if that sheep were a mother with lambs to care for. For when a woman is lost, she may take her babies with her.
THE
ECHO
By
C.C. Miller
’Twas
a sheep not a lamb
That
strayed away in the parable Jesus told,
A
grown-up sheep that strayed away
From
the ninety and nine in the fold.
And
why for the sheep should we seek
And
earnestly hope and pray?
Because
there is danger when sheep go wrong:
They
lead the lambs astray.
Lambs
will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever
the sheep may stray.
When
sheep go wrong,
It
won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.
And
so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For
the sake of the lambs today,
For
when the sheep are lost
What
a terrible cost
The
lambs will have to pay.
This I know for sure: a lost sheep can mean a lost generation.
In the recent YW meetings we had, we were told that when one person goes astray, within a few generations, that can be the cause of 3000 people not being in the gospel. Besides, that first one to go astray is just as precious and valuable to our Heavenly Father as each of the 3000.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting perspective. I had always read the parable as meaning that each of us is precious and that the shepherd rejoices when the lost one is returned. You've given me a new thought to ponder. Thanks, Jane.
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