“11. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13. And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”
When we look at vs 12 its important to give attention to the word mountains. There was a hunter that one time said he would have taken a shot at the doe he encountered, but he was too far from the truck, the terrain was to rugged, and the work would have been too hard to get her out of there. There was an O’l West Virginia hunter that also had this same way of thinking as deer would be driven past him! He would either shoot the smallest deer or let them all go by unless there was a visible set of antlers. The rugged terrain or even the mountains you could say, cause us to step back and ask ourselves do we really want to squeeze the trigger. The work it takes to get a deer can sometimes be more than what we are willing to do. Many Christians have this same line of thinking when it comes to serving Jesus Christ. This shepherd realizes the importance of one lost sheep(that’s a lost soul) and he sets his face to the mountains to find him or her. A mountain can look intimidating at times. The problem though is not how the mountain looks, but it reflects the condition we are in, not just physically, but also spiritually. Someone that is out of shape and over weight has no desire to hunt in rugged terrain, they want everything to be easy for them! There is nothing wrong with an easy hunt and an easy drag to the truck, but sometimes hard work is just necessary for success. Sometimes there are people in your life that you will find to be very easy to witness to, but are you willing to climb a mountain for Jesus? Are you willing to put yourself in places and situations that are not always comfortable? Are you willing to witness to your supervisor? A man at the gas pump? A stranger at the grocery store? A Catholic? A Jew? A Muslim? How do we get ourselves in shape to handle this type of rugged terrain? II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It takes preparation! Stay faithful in church! Stay faithful in prayer! Stay faithful in not just reading your Bible, but also studying it! As a Christian, your life is on one of two paths: either dying or growing! What path do you feel like your on? There is no middle ground! No gray area! Its either black or white! Are you telling others about Jesus? Are you getting stronger and more in shape to find that lost sheep in the mountains? Don’t let the mountains hold you back! Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the Lord, he it is that doeth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” Getting that deer to the truck is a great feeling of success as hard work has paid off, and finding a lost soul in the mountains is a joy you cant understand until you do the work yourself!
Memory Verse Week 12/5/17
Deuteronomy 31:8
“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
