The verse anchor
“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
Luke 15:4 · King James Bible
The story
One evening on a hillside outside a little town, a shepherd sat down to count his sheep. The sun was low, and the wind was cold, and it was time to bring them home.
He counted, softly and slowly: one, two, three, four, five, six... on and on. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine.
He stopped. He counted again. Ninety-nine. His hand went to his heart. One was missing.
It was almost dark. The wolves would be coming out. It would have been easier to shrug and say, "Well, ninety-nine is very good. Ninety-nine is almost all of them."
But the shepherd got up. He left the ninety-nine safe on the hill. And he walked out into the wilderness alone, calling and calling.
He walked past thorns. He walked past dark caves. He kept going, kept calling, kept looking. And at last, deep in a thicket, he heard a small, tired, frightened bleat.
He lifted the little lost sheep onto his shoulders. He carried it all the way home. And when he got there, he called all his friends and neighbors and said, "Rejoice with me — I have found my sheep which was lost."
That, Jesus said, is what heaven is like every single time one person turns their heart to God.
Memory verse
“The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Luke 19:10 · KJV
Say it three times before bed. In seven days you will know it forever.
A prayer
Jesus, thank You that You come looking for me.
Help me never to be too proud to be found.
Amen.