30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 15 1-7 To seek and to save the lost - part I The lost sheep 06 In the protected hand of God
📖 Luke 15:1-7
28Jan2020 - *In the protected hand of God* - _Luke 15:1-7_ - Bible reading: _John 10:27-28_
_Luke 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?_
We have titled the 15th chapter of Luke as *To seek and to save the lost*. This is the heart of God and this is how our heart needs to be too. The Lord was deeply concerned for the Pharisees and the Scribes for they were not in tune with the heart of God, which is to seek and the save the lost.
_Matthew 18:11-12 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (12) "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?_
The Lord is challenging us on how we are concerned about issues that affect us on an everyday basis. We are worried about our jobs, about money, about our children and several more and we do all that is on our hand to do to get things back to our favour.
The Lord is telling us that if we know how to get back those things that are temporal in nature, shouldn’t God be concerned for those, who are lost and will perish for eternity? Shouldn’t the eternal have more importance for us than the temporal? He wants us to carry the pain of His heart for the lost.
The problem with all if us is that we have a tendency to leave our Master and wander away into the temporal things of life. _Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all._
What is our lostness? What is our iniquity? Our iniquity is that we have turned everyone to our own way. This is sin. Sin is rebellion, going away from God and going our own way. If we consider our lives carefully, we will be shocked to realise that the majority of our choices and decisions in life is all about going our own way. We have the audacity to choose our own ways in life, and then give it a spiritual covering. Do we think that God does not know? Does not understand our ways?
He knows, but He comes searching for us that we will repent of going our own way and turn and come back to the ways of God. _Ezekiel 34:11-12 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. (12) As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. Ezekiel 34:16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment."_
We have returned to the captain of our souls from going our way. _I Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls._
What does the Shepherd of our soul promise us? _John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (28) And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand._ He promises us that we are now in the protected hand of God.
*Thought to ponder*
What are your priorities today? Are they eternal or temporal in nature?