There was a man who owned a flock of sheep. Daily he took care of them, fed them, watered them and looked after their every need. Over time the man noticed that one of his sheep kept getting out and going into areas that he could no longer protect it. He always managed to get the sheep back home safely, but one day when the sheep wondered off, it was attacked by the wolves and hurt badly. The sheep made it home but was barely hanging onto life.
The man not knowing what to do decided to ask his friends what they would do. Should he welcome the sheep back into the fold and heal its wounds knowing that the sheep would probably run off again; not only that, the other sheep wouldn’t even have anything to do with the sheep that was hurt. The man after talking to his friends was even more confused. They told him that he should shut the gate and leave the hurt sheep outside and see if the sheep survived and healed on its own. If it survived then the man should let the sheep come back home but if not, then the decision would be made for him and he would not be out any money or time for a dumb sheep that would have just wondered off anyway.
What would you do in this situation? What have you done in this situation?
The man is God, the friends are the church, the sheep are all of us, and the wolves are the world. Do we like the other sheep, shun the ones that are hurt or that have lost their way. Or do we as a church, because we are all the body of Christ, tell God that the other sheep are worthless when they lose their way? It is sad that in this day of Grace that we have been given by God that we so quickly hold unforgiveness for everyone else when we ourselves have been forgiven for so much. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and therefore need to be forgiving of others.
God is such a loving Father and He has forgiven so much, don’t ostracize those that have fallen short of your expectations, remember their sin, if they have sinned, is against God and not you. You are the one that is supposed to pray and forgive.
The true shepherd picks the sheep up, heals its wounds, and always gives the sheep a second chance, until finally the sheep never strays from Him again. If the sheep is shut out and not given a chance to survive the attack, it will never get the opportunity that it needs to decide to stay. Selah.
The man not knowing what to do decided to ask his friends what they would do. Should he welcome the sheep back into the fold and heal its wounds knowing that the sheep would probably run off again; not only that, the other sheep wouldn’t even have anything to do with the sheep that was hurt. The man after talking to his friends was even more confused. They told him that he should shut the gate and leave the hurt sheep outside and see if the sheep survived and healed on its own. If it survived then the man should let the sheep come back home but if not, then the decision would be made for him and he would not be out any money or time for a dumb sheep that would have just wondered off anyway.
What would you do in this situation? What have you done in this situation?
The man is God, the friends are the church, the sheep are all of us, and the wolves are the world. Do we like the other sheep, shun the ones that are hurt or that have lost their way. Or do we as a church, because we are all the body of Christ, tell God that the other sheep are worthless when they lose their way? It is sad that in this day of Grace that we have been given by God that we so quickly hold unforgiveness for everyone else when we ourselves have been forgiven for so much. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and therefore need to be forgiving of others.
God is such a loving Father and He has forgiven so much, don’t ostracize those that have fallen short of your expectations, remember their sin, if they have sinned, is against God and not you. You are the one that is supposed to pray and forgive.
The true shepherd picks the sheep up, heals its wounds, and always gives the sheep a second chance, until finally the sheep never strays from Him again. If the sheep is shut out and not given a chance to survive the attack, it will never get the opportunity that it needs to decide to stay. Selah.
