On the Road Home: How to Journey SafelySample

Day 3 – From the verge of the abyss into the arms of the shepherd: the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7)

Lost sheep - two simple words with a deep theological meaning, that help us to understand why Jesus receives sinners and eats with them, the matter that prompted this brief parable.

A sheep is a sociable animal, that naturally lives in the context of a flock. The individual sheep is defined by the flock and the flock is defined by the sheep. It never lives in isolation, it is not a tracking scout, nor a survivor with great skills.

Each sheep belongs to a shepherd. Everybody knows that. Even so, Jesus begins his story by confirming the obvious fact that a shepherd ‘owns’ a hundred sheep. Of course, sheep do not own themselves. And you, to whom do you belong? To what voice do you listen? When sheep try to take possession of themselves and shape their own destiny, they take other directions than where the shepherd leads them. The common, sheep-like desire to be emancipated leads to being... lost. In other words, we end up like a sheep in trouble. The shepherd looks for it because he knows it will not survive long on its own. Jesus’ audience is like the sheep in the metaphor. Publicans and sinners, pharisees and scribes, all are lost without Him. They are in “need of repentance”. Some admit this, others do not. Are you in need of repentance?

When we leave the flock, we put ourselves in danger. We are bound to get lost. This remains so until we allow the Good Shepherd to whom we belong and who knows the paths of life, to guide us. Whom do you follow? Which paths do you tread? We are lost because our heart is ignorant of its owner. Just walking next to the flock is no guarantee that we will not get lost, because the largest flock on earth is, after all, the flock of the lost. Next to whom do you walk?

The path of life is narrow. Walking this path requires the guidance of the good shepherd. The most worthwhile thing we can do is to let the Shepherd take us up in His arms and bring us back into His flock. And then, follow Him. Only then will you find the way to the green pastures where you can rest, and to the rivers of living water that quench your eternal thirst. There you can find more joy than you have ever dreamt of!

Oscar Pérez

Thanksgiving

Thank you, Lord, for the identity that You gave us: a sheep of the Good Shepherd.

Our hearts are thankful to You, God, that You have come to find us when we were
lost. We were heading for the abyss, but You took us and brought us to Your fold.

We are grateful for having You as our guide at all times, because we tend to stray
from the path.

Thank You also for giving us rest in Jesus Christ.

Confession

We confess that when the path is narrow we tend to be like clumsy sheep who do not listen to the Good Shepherd.

Forgive us for the times when we went astray from You because we thought we could better manage on our own.

Requests

Beloved God, help us listen to Your voice at all times in order that we do not get lost in things that are not agreeable to You.

We pray that You make us aware of the wonder of being Your sheep, so that we might show true path of life to those who are not yet in Your fold.

We ask that we might wholeheartedly enjoy the blessing of walking towards green pastures, and that we might never lose sight of the goal of our life.