Perhaps you feel you are only one
and that makes you insignificant. I would argue, that is what makes you
significant.
Isn’t that incredible? What if you
were the only person in the world? Would God love you? “But I am only one
person among billions,” you might say.
Somehow, I don’t think God is all
that distracted by what all the others are doing. I don’t think he has any
intention of letting a single individual of his own slip through the cracks but
if one did, he would still pursue that one like a hound dog on the scent of someone
lost in a deep southern black canyon until he found him.
If one out of a hundred sheep is
lost, the Shepherd searches for him until he finds him and does not force him
to find his own way back. He puts him on his shoulders and carries him back.[i]
If a dear lady loses one out of ten
coins, she will settle for no less than a full dowry.[ii] She
will sweep and scour for that one coin.[iii]
If one out of two sons is lost, the
Father pursues him even to the point that the elder son is offended and embarrassed
by the amount of attention that his wasteful brother gets from their dad. But,
the Father is not embarrassed by the offensive appearance and smell of a young
man who has been living in the unkosher pigpens of a distant, heathen land.[iv]
The man had forfeited only one son. We might wonder why he didn't just cut his loss and be happy for the son who still remained?
The woman still had nine coins.
Couldn’t she just be happy with what she had?
The Shepherd had ninety-nine sheep
remaining in his fold. He still had 99% of his flock and lost just 1%. It was probably
normal to lose a few animals out of a herd. “Call it good and move on,” his
friends probably said.
But not one individual is
irredeemable in the eyes of God. He paid the extreme price of the death of his
Son so each one might be saved.
How much are you and I worth to
God? Within ourselves – nothing, but when we consider the price God paid for
our salvation, we can say that we are worth much – of infinite in value to him.
There is nothing that our God would not do for his children and for those he
intends to make his children. He proves this to us through the awfulness of the
cross.
He says that not one sparrow can
fall to the ground without his notice and we are far more valuable to him that
many of those little birds.
He knows the number of hairs on your
head. I cannot even count the number of hairs in my nose, let alone my sparse
head!
Believe in the God who loves you
and gave his Son to die so you might be saved. You can trust the one who knows
all about you and loves you more than any other. If you will believe, you will
be saved.
Inspired by a sermon preached by my pastor, Lash Banks -
go to murphychurch.com
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