All kinds of people crowded around Christ, and he never turned them away. No matter what they were like, or who they were, he was ready to receive them.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’
Luke 15:1-2
His love never turns away, but extends to every ethnic group, nation, and every kind of person. “For God so loved the world,” John tells us. The world. That includes everyone. The rich and the poor. The sick and the healthy. Rulers and slaves, and ordinary people. And he went out to seek them.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
Luke 15:4
Christ sought them all.
- The rich and the poor, like Joseph of Arimathea and Lazarus the beggar.
- Scholars and physicians, like Dionysius and Luke.
- Soldiers and fishermen: the Roman centurion and the apostles.
- Extortionists, like Zaccheus and Matthew.
- Thieves and murderers, like the dying robber and Paul.
- Harlots and adulterers, like the Samaritan and the woman caught in adultery.
- Merchants and rulers, like Lydia and the Ethiopian eunuch.
- Whole families, like that of the Philippian jailer.
- Large crowds, like those on the day of Pentecost.
- Even backsliders, like Peter.
- Children, youth, and the elderly.
- Religious people and unbelievers.
- The lame, the blind, the deaf, and the lepers.
- And the spiritually blind and deaf, as we all once were.
Christ still seeks lost sheep
He is still seeking His lost sheep today, and He rejoices every time one of them returns to Him! He remembers each of our homecomings, and is always waiting to welcome us into our eternal home with Him!
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
Luke 15:5-6
📷 Image credits: lone sheep; sheep flock is mine
Signora Sheila 
6 responses to “We Were All Lost Sheep”
Wow, Sheila! What a powerful statement of the grace and mercy of our Lord! I love the contrasts of all those He chooses to love and pursue, all He forgives and accepts fully without condition. Thanks for this remarkable reminder that since He has accepted all who came to Him, we should be no less gracious to those the Lord puts in our paths.
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Yes Dayle, God’s grace and mercy are powerful. As is his forgiveness! And you’re so right… we must always remember to extend the same grace and mercy to those around us!
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Praise God for his welcoming arms! And thank you, Sheila, for this uplifting reminder.
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Amen, Nancy! May we never lose sight of what he’s done for us. Or of the message he wants us to take to others!
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Well said. His grace is for us all and I can only imagine what the rejoicing is like in heaven when a lost sheep is lost no more!
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Amen! And yes, we can only imagine.
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