Tag Archives: Good Shepherd

Parked Car

parked cars 2

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? Luke 15:4

After I got off the airplane on a return home to St. Louis after a trip, I suddenly realized that I could not remember exactly where I had parked my car in long-term parking. I got on a shuttle to the lot where I thought it might be and could not find it. I did a grid search and went down every aisle of the lot, looking for my black Ford Escape. (I soon discovered that Ford Escapes are a very popular model of car!) No luck. I checked my ticket. No indication of the lot to look in. I went to the booths at the exit. No person stationed there. Finally, I decided to go to Maps on my iPhone to just see where I was, and there it was: a pin that said “parked car” in a parking lot far from where I was. Eventually, a kind shuttle driver took me to that dot on my phone and there was my car, safe and sound. As funny as this may sound, I feel my car and I have had a stronger bond since, and I often check to see where my car is parked, even if I know.

There is something about this experience that reminds me of the lengths our Good Shepherd will go to find us. He will leave everything else behind to look for us when we are lost. He will take the time to search diligently. But like the amazing (to me) electronic link between my phone and my car, Christ is inextricably connected to us and will find us in the end, wherever we are. The reunion pinpoints a deepening in our relationship with him. We who were once lost in sin have been found and will never be forgotten by him.

Relentless

relentlessAt a memorial service for Eugene Peterson last November, his son Lief said the pastor/author for 50 years had one main message: “God loves you. He’s on your side. He’s coming after you. He’s relentless” (“Voices,” World Magazine, February 16, 2019, 64).

What a wonderful message and legacy for Eugene Peterson to leave. The author of The Message paraphrased translation of the Bible so many of us know and love, Peterson made sure in all his writing that we know that we are loved by God. And this memorial statement by his son reveals the depth of that love.

Even if we do not feel loved, we are loved by God, no matter what. Even if we feel like everything is against us. God is on our side. I have recently found great solace in the verse, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). God is always on our team.

Then when I hear the words “He is coming for you,” I cannot help but think of the loving Father who ran toward his repentant prodigal son to wrap his arms around him. He longs to reach out to you and embrace you just as you are, faults and all, because of the forgiveness won for us through Christ.

And he is relentless. He will not let you get lost or run away. Like the Good Shepherd, he leaves the 99 sheep behind until he finds the lost one. He will not stop seeking you out and being your Savior. I think of this verse from Isaiah 35:4: Say to those who are anxious in heart: “He will come and save you!” He has and he always will.

 

 

Recalculating

recaluculatingRecalculating. We all have experienced hearing that word at one time or another when we are using our GPS and go a different way than the app has mapped out, Though we have gone “off-course,” our GPS finds a new way to get us back on track.

The idea of recalculating recalls for me the work of our Good Shepherd in our lives. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). When we have gone our own way, our Good Shepherd comes and finds us. As our Good Shepherd tells us, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:11-13). Jesus is our divine GPS and does the recalculating for us by going to the cross to save us from our sins and put us back on the path to everlasting life.

Let the Good Shepherd lead you on the path he has set for you.