Luke 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Dear Lord,
Thank You that to You, I am not just a number. I matter to You. You leave the ninety-nine and go after me when I am lost. You go after my loved ones when they are lost. You go after the person who violates me when she is lost. You will keep going after the lost until found.

5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

Thank You that when You find us when we are lost, You are not angry but joyful. Did You need to break one of our legs in order that we would submit to Your guiding us home? You put us on Your shoulders knowing You need to carry us home because on our own, we probably would still go the wrong way even when we already saw You coming after us. Thank You for the times You put us in a place of pain or helplessness that makes us pay attention to You. Help us to seek You always and stick with You even after we gain strength and healing so that we do not keep going on this cycle of going into the land of the lost.

6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Thank You for the undeserved but given rejoicing in glorious heaven when our lack of wisdom gets us lost and then we are found by You. Thank You that You Yourself— amazing, compassionate, omnipotent, omniscient, ever-present Alpha and Omega who do not need us but who loves us—rejoice. Thank You that You consider us Your sheep, albeit lost. Thank You that You chose us to belong to You. Thank You that at times when it seems we do not belong to this world, it is the grace to make us remember that we belong to YOU. Thank You that You cause us to repent now in this earthly life that we may turn away from our waywardness and wickedness. Thank You that You are not a condemning God but a saving God. Thank You that You are waiting for us to be repentant and have a continual repentant attitude that we may gain true life in You.

Thank You for being our loving Shepherd.