Based on Luke 15:4-7
MEMORY TEXT: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Do you like to imagine? Can you picture things in your mind? Some people do that more easily than others. Those kinds of people remember details of events that happened a long time ago because their mind seems to take a snapshot that stays in their memory. They can recall the smells, colors, conversations, and sounds from their past as though it were yesterday.
If you can, try to imagine this event in the story of the Good Shepherd. It is one of the most joyful, emotional, appealing pictures in the Bible.
The shepherd goes out into the night to look for his sheep. He calls and calls until his voice is hoarse. It’s so dark that he can’t see very far ahead. Then with a sigh of relief he hears a faint cry in the distance. Following the sound, he climbs to the very edge of the precipice, at the risk of his own life. As he searches here and there, he notices that the cry is growing fainter. His sheep is ready to die. But at last his effort is rewarded--the lost is found.
Can you imagine the joy and relief the shepherd feels when he finds his lost sheep? He is laughing and crying at the same time. He carefully looks the sheep over to see if there are broken bones or torn flesh. Do you think he scolds the sheep or hits it with his rod as a punishment for wandering away? No; instead, he gathers it in his arms, rejoicing. He dries off the wet wooly coat with his robe, all the time talking to it like one would talk to a baby. He lifts the sheep up to his shoulders and carries it back to the fold, singing as he walks. Then the shepherd calls to his friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Mark 15:6).
This is a picture of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, that you will never want to forget, because we have all been like that sheep--lost and found and carried on His shoulders.
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