Saturday's Bible Story for the Week
The more familiar location for the Parable of the Lost Sheep is in Luke 15:4-7 where it’s combined with the Parables of the Lost Coin and the Lost or Prodigal Son.
The context in Matthew is different in that it bridges Jesus’ call to deal with our own sin seriously (18:8-9) and His call to deal with other’s sin seriously (18:15-17).
Whether this symbolic sheep lost in sin is you or someone else, the attitude of God the Father remains the same: "Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (Matthew 18:14). He leaves ninety-nine to find the one lost, and is thrilled to again find that lost person – or sheep – as the parable portrays.
Matthew 18:10-14
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11]
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Prayer
Pray to Jesus, your shepherd. Utilize Psalm 23 with its shepherd-sheep language or use your own creative imagination to couch your prayers in sheep to shepherd images. What other sheep need prayers?