“’Rejoice With Me; I Have Found My Lost Sheep’”

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Luke 15:1-7

Jesus seeks each and every one of us. We are all called to “draw near,” to Him. At some point in our lives we will decide to put our faith in Him and follow Him.

The religious folks of Jesus’s day were scandalized by the fact that Jesus aid and drank with sinful, awful people. Their rules prohibited them from associating with such folk. Jesus paid no attention to their made up rules. He welcomed the down and out and gathered them to Him, no matter how far gone they were.

It is still true: Jesus receives all sinners and each of us are included.

God pursues us in our restlessness, receives us in our sinfulness, holds us in our brokenness.

Our Daily Bread – July 31, 2018