Jeremiah 50:6

LOST SHEEP

‘My people have been lost sheep.’

Jeremiah 50:6

I. The sheep which wanders follows the wayward tendency of its nature.—It has none of the strong instinct of affection which binds some animals to their master and other animals to their home. And is there not in me, from the earliest beginnings of conscious life, an inclination to disobey?

II. The sheep which strays is in imminent danger.—The precipice, the parched wilderness, the wolf, the robber—these perils confront it. And I, too—ah! mine are more grievous hazards still. The way of transgressors is hard—hard in the meanwhile—and hopelessly dark and sorrowful in the long hereafter.

III. The sheep which departs cannot find its path home again.—More and more bewildered it becomes, more and more undone. It is lost in saddest truth. And it is not otherwise with me. I cannot redeem my bankrupt soul.

IV. How I should rejoice that there is a restoring Shepherd!

Illustration

‘He took me on His shoulder,

And tenderly He kissed me.

He bade my love be bolder,

And said how He had missed me;

And I’m sure I heard Him say,

As He went along His way,

“O, silly souls! come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me,

I am the Shepherd true.” ’