You are the ONE

One of my favorite times of day to read the Bible is first thing in the morning when I wake up. Sometimes this even happens while I'm on the toilet. (Sorry, that may have been too much information.) 

I have been reading through the book of Luke off and on the past few weeks and when I read the parable of the lost sheep, I thought it was cool. But, when I taught on it Tuesday morning at Hutch's Huddle at Gull Lake Middle School, I was in awe of God. 

A shepherd with a very full head of hair. 

In this story a shepherd realizes one morning (it doesn't say it's morning, but like all the other elements I'm going to add to this story, it helps me put myself in the shepherds shoes a little bit more) that he has lost one of his 100 sheep. He double counts again just to make sure, but he really didn't even need to because he knows every square inch of wool on each of his sheep. After counting again just to be absolutely certain, he high-tails it for the mountains near where his sheep are grazing. 

He hikes and searches all morning, all afternoon and into the late hours of the evening. When off in the distance he hears something, it sounds like Gary (in my head that's what he named this sheep). He starts calling out, "Gary? Gary?!" 

He runs a little bit further and the noise gets louder. The shepherd is growing more and more convinced this is Gary. 

"Gary!"

The shepherd runs over to Gary, sweeps him up in his arms and throws him over his shoulders (did I mention our shepherd is super-ripped?). 

I realized as I was reading this story during Hutch's Huddle, that this isn't just a reminder about God having a huge heart towards the lost. This is a reminder that God cares about us individually. The God who created the sheep, the mountains, the sun and moon that were on display while the shepherd searched, and even the shepherd himself, cares about YOU. You are the ONE He is willing to go searching for. You are the ONE He is willing to risk His life for. You are the ONE He did die for and wants to have a daily relationship with you. 

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Are you letting God make you ONE of His sheep?

Are you running away from being found?

Are you part of the 99 sheep wondering why the shepherd is wasting His time looking for the lost ONE?

I encourage you to take time out and thank God for caring about you individually. 

I encourage those of you who are believers to ask God to soften your heart for those who haven't accepted the fact that God wants them individually to trust Him.