He told them this parable. 'Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.' Luke 15:3 WEB

Jesus told this parable about a man that had one-hundred sheep, but one of them got lost. It was a part of His flock at one time, but now it was separated and wandering alone. It was the shepherd's job to find them, bind up their wounds, and bring them back to the flock (Ezekiel 34:4). The sheep were not able to find the way back on their own. They were often scared, possibly injured, and were driven away by another in the same flock. A good shepherd would always go after them.

Sheep flock together, submit to the shepherd and their protection is in numbers. Sheep tend to be gentle and are easy prey when they are found alone.

Sadly enough there are goats in the flock of God that will drive His sheep away. We raised goats on the farm where I grew up and I once raised one as a pet. Goats are temperamental, stubborn, and sometimes downright mean to others. They constantly see the grass greener on the other side and will go over the fence, under the fence or through the fence, but they will never willingly stay inside the fence with the others. They can be a friend one moment, but an enemy the next.

God cares deeply about the wounded that have gone missing, and we are to gently bring them back. No one makes it alone, for very long.

One night I had a vivid dream that a friend of ours was covered in huge sores. In the dream I had a container of healing salve which I rubbed on their sores and they were so thankful. The salve healed them. I noticed that I had not seen them lately at church, so we called them up and asked them out to dinner.

During the conversation, I found that they had been hurt badly and had stopped coming to church at all. Somehow, through prayer and the Holy Spirit, we worked through it and they started attending again. The relationships were restored. They were healed and a part of the body again. God used us to go after one that was driven away.

Be open to going after the lost ones and pray for the Lord to show you the lost that you can reach. If you are a lost one wandering alone, know that God is seeking you and wants to bring you back into His family. Though hard, cold, religion salesmen may have hurt you in the past, it was not Him that did it. He would never hurt you and He still has true shepherds out there that care for His flock.

Prayer: Father I thank You for finding me. Heal me, restore me, guide me to where I need to be. Teach me what I need to know. I yield my will to You. May Your will be done on earth, and in my life, as it is in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Note: Happy Friday! For the next several weeks, we are going to start a weekly to bi-weekly note here called "Group of the Day". We are so blessed by the small groups here and the wonderful people who have stepped up to lead them. You can find any of the groups by clicking on the "Groups" link on the site menu. Without further ado, today''s group is "Creation Photographers"! Creation Photographers is a group that seeks to show the glory and beauty of God's creation through photography. That vision includes the beauty of things created by man, because God created us and put His spark in each of us! ANY level of photography skill is welcome and all are invited to join and enjoy!