Luke 15:4

The Lost Lamb

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Luke 15:4.

Once upon a time, there dwelt in an Eastern land a shepherd who had a flock of sheep. He had exactly one hundred sheep, and he knew each of them by name.

In the daytime this shepherd led his flock out to green pastures on the hillside. Sometimes there were rough places to cross in going from one pasture to the other; but the shepherd was always at hand with his crook to help any sheep that got into difficulties. Now and again they came to a swift stream; but he always went first to find the easiest crossing; and the sheep who kept nearest to him and followed where he led came through the waters best. At night he brought his flock back to the fold. It was enclosed by a high wall crowned with sharp thorns so that no robber or wolf could get in to steal the sheep.

Now one year the shepherd had a worrying time on account of a little lamb that was very willful. It was always loitering behind the rest to finish a particularly juicy clump of grass, or going a little bit up the hill to crop a daisy that looked specially nice. When it came to a stream it preferred to choose its own crossing, and many a time it would have been drowned if the shepherd had not rescued it with his crook. Several times it nearly broke a leg by going into rough places, just to show how well it could jump from rock to rock. And altogether it cost its kind master many an anxious hour.

As it grew older it grew bolder, and that was how it got into the great difficulty of which I am going to tell you.

When the shepherd brought his sheep back to the fold at night, it was his custom to count them all to make sure that none was missing. One evening he found he had only ninety-nine instead of one hundred. He counted them again twice to make sure he had made no mistake, but it was only too true one sheep had gone astray. Anxiously he scanned the flock to find out which was missing, and he discovered that it was the poor naughty lamb.

Now this is what had happened. When the shepherd was leading his flock from one pasture to another, the lamb had seen, farther up the hill, a nice little bit of green which looked most inviting. Why shouldn't he have it? He was sure it was much nicer than the grass where they were going. In any case, he would just run up and have a nibble at it, and he could easily overtake the others. Then he saw another bit of green a little farther on, and he must just have that too. The lamb was enjoying himself immensely. Why should he bother about that old shepherd and the silly sheep? And, as a matter of fact, he soon forgot about them.

Later the sun began to sink and the shadows to grow longer. Then the lamb thought it might be safer to turn homewards. But which way to turn? He had reached a part of the mountain that was quite unfamiliar to him. The shepherd and the sheep had long ago vanished from sight. He gave a bleat, but there was no answer they were out of hearing too!

The sun sank to rest behind the hills, and swiftly the darkness of the Eastern night began to fall. By this time the lamb had become very much afraid. He thought of the wild beasts that he had heard prowling round the fold at night. He remembered how he had crept closer to his mother, and how she had comforted him, saying, “We are quite safe in the fold and the shepherd is watching.” Ah, how he longed now for the shepherd and the safe fold! Then he thought of the stories he had heard of the robbers who dwelt in the mountains, robbers who seized and slaughtered silly, straying sheep. And he shuddered with terror lest they should find him.

On and on he wandered, bleating piteously. His little legs were so weary that they could hardly bear him; his beautiful fleecy coat was tangled by briers and soiled with mud; his throat was parched with thirst. Far up the mountain, the howl of a wolf answered his bleat, and he held his breath and ran lest his enemy should find him. At last, utterly exhausted, he lay down under the shelter of a rock and prepared to die; for he had given up all hope of ever finding the fold again.

And now let us return to the shepherd. When he discovered his loss, how did he act? Do you think he said, “Well, this is most unfortunate; but I have still ninety-nine sheep and I must just make the best of things. He was a troublesome creature anyway or, “Poor little lamb, I am very sorry for him, but it can't be helped! No doubt by this time he will have fallen over a precipice, or into the hands of robbers; or perhaps he has been devoured by a wild beast. I should only risk my own life by going after him. It is more valuable than his. And, after all, I should probably not find him.”

If your pet cat or your dear dog went missing, is that the way you would behave? No, I think you would put forth every effort to find it. You would go to the police office, and you would ask all your friends and neighbors if they had seen it, and you would put an advertisement in a shop window or in a newspaper offering a reward for its return.

What did the shepherd do? He looked round on the ninety-and-nine sheep. They were quite safe in the fold, and he could leave them in charge of his hireling. But up somewhere on the bleak mountain-side a poor, unhappy, naughty little lamb was needing him badly. What matter that it had been troublesome? Did it not the more require the shepherd's tender care? So girding his cloak about him, he set out into the dark night. Not a thought of his own weariness and his well-earned rest! Never a care for the perils of the mountain or the danger from wolves or robbers! Something he valued more than life was in trouble, and he alone could save it.

On through the darkness he stumbled, calling now gently and tenderly, now clear and loud on over the rough rocks, and through the cruel briers. Once he found himself at the edge of a precipice where one more step would have meant certain death. Again he had to ford a swift river which almost bore him away. Now the hills echoed to the cries of the wild beasts hungry for their prey. But he only hastened lest his dear one should be in immediate danger. Weary, bruised, and torn, he never gave up hope. With untiring patience he searched the night through.

And then, at last, in answer to his call, he heard a faint bleat. He called again, and stopped to listen. Yes, it was the cry of his lamb so piteous and feeble, but the cry of his own dear lamb!

In a few minutes he was by its side. Do you think he reproached it for all the weariness and pain it had caused him? Do you think he thrashed it for its wicked willfulness? Ah no! In his heart there was room for only one thing a great joy at the recovery of his lost treasure. Tenderly caressing it, calling it by name, he lifted the frightened, bleeding creature up in his strong arms, and, laying it on his own weary shoulders, he bore it all the long way back to the fold.

Boys and girls, we have a Good Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep. For them He left His happy home in heaven; for them He trod the thorny path; for them He worked, and suffered, and bore the bitter cross. He knows each of us separately and calls us by name, and if you have not come into the fold, there is an empty place in His great heart which nothing else can fill He seeks for you just as if you were the only child in the world, and He will never be satisfied until He finds you.

The lamb was a very silly little thing to wander away from its kind shepherd, but what would you have thought of it if, when it heard his call, it had turned and run away as hard as ever it could until it fell over a precipice. Don't you think it would have been sillier still? And that is just the way some of us are treating the Good Shepherd. When He calls us we run away, and we are sillier than sheep.

Jesus told the story of the Lost Sheep to help us to see how much God loves us and how much He wants us, however wicked and troublesome we are. Will you let Him guide you safely into the fold?