A difference of 1
How much difference does 1 make? Well, if shopping it seems to have a great effect, since somehow an item sells better for $9.99 than for $10.00, or if we are talking about higher prices $19,999 seems better than $20,000. For some reason the difference of 1 cent or 1 dollar seems to have a psychological effect on the buyer, making you feel like you are paying a lower price.
The truth is that in terms of money a difference of 1 cent or 1 dollar is negligible. But when it comes to life the Bible clearly teaches that 1 is important to God.
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. – Matthew 18:12-14
In this teaching we learn:
- The 99 are safe in the place where their owner wants them to be
- The herd is not complete until all the sheep are safe
- The joy of the owner is not complete until the lost sheep appears
- The owner will do whatever it takes (“go to the mountains”) in order to find the lost sheep
You might now be part of the 99, but at some point you were the lost sheep. Even if you did not know it, God considered you part of his herd, and as the owner of the flock He would not stop until he found you and take you with him.
The herd is still incomplete. There is still a straying sheep. This sheep may have been part of the herd and went astray following the deception of a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. Or maybe this lost sheep has no idea that it belongs to God’s herd, and it is spending its life in another herd where sheep are only used for wool or to be slaughtered for food.
It is God’s will that none should perish. He wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God continues to search for the lost sheep, but he does so through the intervention of His Spirit and the participation of the body of Christ, which are all those who are part of the 99.
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. – Matthew 18:11
This is the dynamics of the kingdom of heaven. If you are part of the 99, you are part of the effort to search for the lost sheep. That lost sheep is important to God.
If you’re not part of the 99 I want remind you that God wants to bring you to the safety of his flock. You are important to God.
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