Jesus — The Good Shepherd - Wednesday
TODAY’S VERSE
Ezekiel 34:5-6
So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. (ESV)
The sun had set about an hour earlier, and the darkness of night had brought a coolness to the air. It was fall and I sat outside by myself. My friends and I had decided that it would be a fun idea to play a game of sardines, which is basically hide and seek but reversed. One person hides, and everyone comes looking for them. Once you find the hiding player, you must hide with them (packing into the hiding spot like sardines in a sardine can) until there is only one seeker left alone.
So there I sat, alone in the dark, hiding by myself. And yet… I desperately wanted to be found. The longer I sat alone, the more intimidated by the dark I became. I found myself convinced that bugs were crawling on me, or a coyote was going to find me before all my seeking friends did. Yes, the point of the game was to find the best hiding spot. But the longer I hid, the more desperate I was to be found.
God’s people (referred to as the Israelites in the Old Testament) waited for their Messiah for centuries upon centuries. In fact, four hundred years would pass between the last Old Testament prophet, a guy named Malachi, and the arrival of John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Jesus.
And I am sure, during those four hundred years, the Israelites often thought about the words that the prophet Ezekiel shared from God in Ezekiel 34:5-6. For four hundred years, God’s people likely felt hidden, and yet desperate to be found. Lost and in need of someone to come looking for them. Sheep scattered, with none to search for them.
But then Jesus comes onto the scene, the long-awaited Messiah. And He made it very clear what His intentions were when He said, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4).
Jesus made Himself even more clear when He later said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Here’s what I’m getting at: Jesus, as the good shepherd, came looking for His people when they were lost, even though no one else would. Jesus has sought us out as well, and He currently seeks every one who is lost and desperately waiting to be found.
APPLICATION
Take some time today to thank God for seeking you out and saving you when you were lost and desperate to be found. Take some time today to pray for your one more who is lost and waiting to be found.
PRAYER
God, I have been lost and afraid. I have been lost and waiting to be found. And You found me. You saved me and rescued me from the darkness. Thank You. Please be with ________, and find them. Rescue them from the darkness just as you did with me. Amen.