“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? (Luke 15:4)

• The shepherd will not rest UNTIL he rescues the sheep.
• A sheep is seldom cooperative.
• A sheep will “try” the path, even if it’s narrow and dangerous.
• The shepherd cannot count upon the sheep’s common sense or intelligence to assist in its rescue.  

“And when he finds it [his sheep], he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ (Luke 15:5-6)

God promises to “carry”, “sustain” and “rescue” us–even if we have taken the wrong path and cannot figure out how to turn around.

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isa. 46:4)

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:6)

Christ died ONCE for all of us. He is our perpetual intercessor (advocate) in the court of God’s justice. Jesus really IS our shepherd.