TRUE TROPHIES
Luke 15:4-6
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'
The end of the fall hunting season can be a depressing time. Many years we've spent a lot of effort for little to show for it. We wonder if all of the bucks or bulls that we had hoped to take are still alive or if someone else harvested them. Then in late winter there's hope again... The snow starts to melt and the antlers that were shed start to show up. In shed hunting, there's only one thing better than finding a big antler, that's finding the other side to go with it.
Shed hunters will search high and low for the matched set of antlers. When the first is found there are some that will devote days if not weeks to scouring brush and grass to find its match.
The parable above pictures God's desire to find sinners and bring them back into the fold. Thus the owner throws a party, asking his neighbors to celebrate with him since the lost sheep is found. In the same way, Jesus says, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. When a sinner turns to God, heaven throws a party. The prospect of such joy keeps Jesus associating with sinners.
If only we would search out those that are lost and headed for hell with the same zeal as we look for one lost shed antler or one trophy that was shot and lost. If we considered the importance of bringing lost souls "home" in comparison to a chunk of mineral that grew on the head of an animal.
John 4:35
Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
Search them out. They are ready to be found.
Help achieve the mission - GIVE today
Click the button to sign up for Dean’s Daily Devotional. FREE and delivered daily.