Lost Sheep

I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.  Psalms 119:176 (NLT)

There’s one thing about lost sheep – no matter how far they’ve wandered, and in what predicament they’ve managed to become entangled – they always remember the shepherd’s call.

Powerful people can also be lost sheep.  Sometimes it is that very power which diminishes the powerful sheep’s ability to remember the shepherd’s call.  And when the narcotic of power begins to have its full effect, it can make the power-full person frantic…LOST!

The drama being played out in the halls of American government these days reminds me of desperate sheep.  The narcotic-deprived sheep are bleating at one another, drowning out the shepherd’s voice.  And these lost sheep have begun to realize nobody’s listening to them.  The president wants his debt ceiling pacifier back; the speaker wants his healthcare rattle left alone.  Baa, baa, and baa!

What can work?

Matthew wasn’t always an apostle.  He started out in government – a tax collector (talk about a lost sheep!).  When the Good Shepherd called Matthew to be his disciple, Matthew invited all the other lost sheep tax collectors and “other disreputable sinners” ^{(Matthew 9:10)} to his house for a party!

(Had one of those LOL moments when reading this Scripture.  Couldn’t Matthew have invited “reputable sinners” to the party?  After all – there was a preacher in attendance!)

The point of the party was to gather other lost sheep, get them relaxed, settled down and quiet enough to hear the shepherd.

I had a friend who told me long ago about an incident that happened at a public beach.  A man in the water got disoriented and began to thrash about, calling for help.  The lifeguard sprang into action, swimming out to rescue this lost sheep.  But the frantic man kept yelling and fighting-off the lifeguard.  Finally the rescuer clocked the rescuee, knocking him into submission.  Then he pulled the soggy sheep to the safety of dry land.

The so-called “powerful people” who are running things (or so they think) in Washington would do well to get quiet and listen for the shepherd’s voice, before they need a lifeguard.

Today

Let’s take time to pray for the lost, frantic sheep in the halls of Congress.  

And what about us?

Why are we running as fast as we are?  

Can you really hear your Shepherd’s voice that way?

Is it not time to be on our knees?