We find ourselves lost and looking for the Lord. These are frightening times. We are sheep among wolves. Yet we can rejoice. We do rejoice not because of our "confidence in the flesh". We aren't at all confident that we'll find the Lord through our own efforts. We are sheep. Even the best tracker among us doesn't really have the skills to find the shepherd after going astray. We rejoice because he searches for us.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
We see the heart of the Good Shepherd and we rejoice. There are supposed to be one hundred sheep in this flock and he is unwilling to lose even one. He will find us. Our searching is the glance that watches for our rescuer. It is waiting for the LORD with courage and a stout heart.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
We do not have confidence in the flesh. Our army of sheep is nothing compared to the principalities and powers, the world rulers of this present darkness (cf. Eph. 6:12). As sheep, our best engineers aren't to be trusted with tower building. There is only one thing worth trusting.
But whatever gains I had,
these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Perhaps we don't feel as valuable as a lost coin. Perhaps we don't think we're worth searching the entire house. But let's remember, Jesus uses these parables to justify welcoming sinners and eating with them. The point of these analogies is not just the lengths to which he will go to find us. The point is also that, to him, we are worth finding. We are so worth finding that he himself rejoices to find us. He is so filled with joy that he has to throw a party to share that joy with his friends and neighbors.
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
and
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
Today there may be times when we feel lost. We might feel like we are looking for the Lord at such times. Let's remember that however much we are looking for him he is working even harder to find us. However joyful we will be when he sets us on his shoulders and carries us home his joy will be greater still.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
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