The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Day: 34

Text: Luke. 15:3-7

Introduction-

This parable talks about how God will leave anything and everything to pursue a lost soul. The parable shows us how deep the Father’s love is for us and how He will stop at nothing to make sure that the lost are found! The sheep represent God’s people and the Shepherd represents Jesus Christ. Jesus is known as The Good Shepherd: “The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” John 10:11. There are many lessons we can derive from the Parable of the Lost Sheep to understand our walk with God and how we are instructed to treat our fellow man.

Life Lessons–

1. View every person as valuable

In this parable we learn that Jesus views every sheep as valuable. Even though the shepherd only lost one sheep– he left the obedient sheep to chase after the one who had lost their way. Jesus does not treat us as our sins deserve, instead He treats every life as valuable seeing the end from the beginning. For example, let’s read about Peter and Jesus’ interactions. Jesus told Peter that he would betray him and even after this occurred, Jesus still forgave Peter. Reference: Luke 22:54-62. When Jesus restored Peter, Jesus told Peter to feed His Lambs and tend to his sheep. Reference: John 21:15-17.This shows us how much Jesus believed in Peter’s ability to be his disciple despite his mistakes.

2. God is forgiving and merciful

You would think that in this parable the shepherd would reprimand the lost sheep but he was proud that he was able to rescue the lost sheep from the wild. This shows the heart of God. God does not rejoice when we go astray as His children! He is consistently looking for avenues to reach us. He will send someone to talk to us, send a message, demonstrate His love through His Word. Jesus tirelessly pursues us!  What can truly separate us from the love of God, nothing! Reference: Romans 8:35-39

3. Jesus rejoices in our conversion from darkness to LIGHT! 

No matter how far we’ve gone outside the will of God. The Good Shepherd is proud of his sheep. In this parable, we see how the Shepherd carried the lost sheep on his shoulders and told all of his friends to rejoice with him because what was lost has now been found. This is an illustration of the rejoicing that takes place in Heaven when one person commits their life to Jesus! “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7

Life Applications

1. Don’t give up on ANYONE!

The Shepherd did not give up on the lost sheep.  Likewise, we should not give up on anyone. We as believers should continue to witness and pray for those who are lost and skeptical in choosing Jesus. Even for those who believe but are living in sin, let’s remind them that all have fallen short of the glory of God according to Romans 3:23 but God gives us grace to choose Him and the power to live righteous each day.

2. Be forgiving

As we see in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, the Father welcomed the Prodigal son from riotous living. The prodigal Son mishandled his inheritance to live large until his mismanagement left him destitute wishing he was a servant in his father’s house instead of living ‘free’ on his own terms. When the son came home instead of the Father waiting for the son to beg him and ask for forgiveness, the father ran to meet the son while he was still coming up the road— that is restoration. This is the father’s love!

3. A win for One is a win for all

When we see ourselves as ONE Body, we are able to cheer each other on and rejoice with Heaven when one soul is saved, a victory is won, and the devil is defeated. We can learn from the shepherd who told all his friends that he found the lost sheep, or from the Prodigal Father that hosted a lavish party for his returning son. Let’s learn to celebrate the return of all who were lost and have now been found!

Lesson of the Day: The Parable of the Lost Sheep is about the Father’s Love. The Lord knows how many hairs are on our head, where we will miss the mark and all of our frailties as human beings and He still loves us. This parable teaches us to receive God’s love so we can forgive one another’s faults and see ourselves through the lens of the Body of Christ with one Shepherd and as one flock so we can continue to encourage all of God’s children on our journey of becoming more like our example, Jesus.

Complied by: Ariella Daramola