The Parable of the Lost Sheep & The Prodigal Son

“And so He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭7‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

According to Google, “prodigal” is defined as:

- recklessly extravagant

-wasteful

-spending money and resources without thought of the future.

Jesus shares this passage/parable about the lost sheep just before sharing the parable/story of the Prodigal Son.

What I want you to catch is that both the sheep & the Son were part of a “pack”, but strayed away on their own. They both BELONGED where they were, but their curiosities or shall we say, their temptations were tools that lead them away from where they BELONGED.

The sheep, was lead astray in innocent curiosity of following the food. Unaware that it was in danger or doing something it shouldn’t be.

The Son asked for his inheritance and willingly chose to live in a prodigal lifestyle. Reckless, wasteful, EXTRA!

Sometimes we find ourselves in danger & uncovered because we made a decision to follow what sounds/tastes/looks good.

Whether we got there KNOWING we made a wrong turn or NOT (the wrong choice was made innocently), in BOTH stories, out of Jesus own mouth, the lost were REDEEMED & RESTORED.

Sometimes our choices require us to look at our decisions and reflect on how we got “off track” & wound up in dangerous territory.

Sometimes the Father chases & redirects (the sheep/innocent mistake).

Sometimes the Father waits patiently for us to acknowledge the blatant choices we’ve made that we knew weren’t right (the prodigal Son/knowing we were wrong).

In BOTH scenarios, HE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO REDEEM & RESTORE.

Times are heavy.

But, Jesus isn’t. His yolk is easy & His burden is light.

We are ALL prodigals!

There’s not one of us that hasn’t been reckless, EXTRA or wasteful!

If you’ve made some choices that have you sitting in places you shouldn’t be, HE is ready for YOU!

You can NOT outrun His love for you.

However, what you decide to do with His love for you, is yet again, a CHOICE…

Choose repentance! You’ll be glad that you did!