It’s a little hard to see. The weather has washed it out a little. But we all know what it is. Heart wrenching, isn’t it? I’ve seen three or four of these types of signs lately on my daily route. If you’re a pet lover, you look at these signs and sigh an awww. Then when you arrive at your home, you look at your pet and give them a little extra squeeze and tell them you’re glad they aren’t lost, you’d miss them so much and don’t ever run away, probably in the same voice you’d speak to a baby. Ok, if I’m the only one who’d do that, just say it.
Every time I see one of these posters, I think of the grieving owner and then I immediately think of Jesus. You know, the Shepherd. The One who leaves the 99 to find the one. That’s our story, isn’t it? For every believer there is, Jesus left the 99 to find the one, me, you. Think on that a minute – the depth of love. Quite hard to fathom, isn’t it? Although the depth of that love may be hard to believe, the action shouldn’t surprise us. His Word tells us over and over that He came to save the lost, those that were missing. Instead of our picture on a pole, it was His body on a pole.
Ezekiel 34 tells us all about the Good Shepherd. As we begin to read at verse one, we can clearly see that there was a shepherd problem in Israel. Ezekiel tells us that those tasked with leading the sheep were not doing a very good job. They didn’t feed their flock, nurse their flock, save their flock from prey, or run after the ones who had wandered and were missing. The shepherds were simply not doing their shepherd jobs – they were caring for themselves instead of for their flocks.
They have wandered through the mountains and hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them. Ezekiel 34:6
The Good Shepherd speaks and His Words sting a bit, don’t they? I wonder if the shepherd problem in Ezekiel’s time is so different than the shepherd problem in our time? Sure, there are folks out there under the guise of “shepherd” drinking the milk, wearing the wool, and butchering the best. One need not look far for a modern-day example of this and I’m not just talking church leaders. But, the example may be closer than we think. You see, we are shepherds. We may not have a big flock, or shepherd a flock that meets on Sundays, but if we are a lost sheep found, we are to follow the example of our Shepherd, right? God promised to take over the scattered flock from the leaders of Israel, and He did. What did He say about his sheep?
I will search and seek them out.
I will deliver them.
I will bring them to their own lands – I will take them home.
I will feed them.
I will gather them together.
I will cause them to lie down.
I will seek the lost.
I will bind their wounds and strengthen the sick.
Ezekiel 34:11-16
Hasn’t he done that for every single one of us? Read through that again. Can you think of an example from your life of every one of those promises?
The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.
Luke 19:10
Jesus came to keep the promises of God, to save us. Isn’t that something to be shared? We can’t save people, only God can, but we can show them the Good Shepherd, the One who came to find, feed, deliver, strengthen, heal, protect and take home the lost, those who are missing – to give those with a lost life a new life!
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sinon our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
Because we have been reconciled to God by the Good Shepherd, we are lost sheep found. Because we are lost sheep found, we are to find lost sheep. Isn’t that the example the Good Shepherd gave to us? Isn’t that the job He has given us to do as ambassadors? Do you know anyone lost, missing? Do you know anyone who needs strengthened, healed, protected? Do you know anyone who needs fed? Do you know anyone who doesn’t have an eternal home? Do you know anyone who has run away, who is missing or lost, because of sin? Do you know anyone who needs to be reconciled to the Good Shepherd? What are we doing about it?
PERSIST
Ezekiel Chapter 34
Luke 19:1-10
PURSUE
Being an ambassador for Christ is a serious job. It means pointing lost sheep in the right direction. It means telling them how to go from lost to found. Are we doing that? Are we telling the ones who are missing that Jesus keeps His promises? Who better to make the missing signs than someone who is no longer missing?