Seek the lost

Matthew 18:12-14 “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? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety‑nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

God cares about every one of His people. In fact, He cars so much about the lost of this world that He is willing to leave behind those of us who have not wandered astray in order to bring back that one who has. We ought to adopt that mindset as our own.

So often we sit in our church pews thinking that this is what the Christian life is all about. Sunday morning worship, a sermon, the offering plate, maybe even a Sunday school class. But when we head home after the service, what is our role in God's plan? Are we really only called to be Christ followers on Sunday? Are we really only meant to meet the needs of our fellow Christians?

It is clear in God's Word that we should be willing to get outside of our church walls and seek the lost to bring them to the knowledge of Christ Jesus. The ninety nine sheep that the Lord speaks of are those church people sitting in the pews. We should be willing to leave them behind to save that one lost sheep. He or she matters just as much to God as those sitting in the church worshiping Him.