“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? Luke 15:4
Jesus told a story about a man who searched for a single, lost sheep. God does the same for us.
At a Bible study in a men’s shelter the question was asked, ‘What is the Bible?” “It’s just a book of rules,” one man said, picking up a Bible and tossing it into a trashcan. Another man named Wayne immediately lifted the Bible out of the trash and wiping it off, said, “Don’t ever do that again.”
“Let me tell you a story,” Wayne said. “When my mother died, I inherited money. I lost my mind, started buying crack cocaine and partied non-stop. I lost my job and got evicted from my apartment. I moved into cheap motels but lost my backpack containing the only thing I had from my mother. It was a Bible, and inside she’d written me a love letter, telling me that Jesus was the answer.”
When the money ran out, Wayne lived on the street. Eighteen months later, Wayne and a friend were hired to clean out an old, 2-story apartment building in a town 100 miles away. Wayne finished cleaning up the first floor and went upstairs. There, Wayne’s friend had set aside a few items he thought might be useful. Wayne picked up a grimy backpack from the pile. Inside was a dirty book that he opened … and there was the love letter from his mom—it was Wayne’s Bible.
Jesus said, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4) Wayne says, “If God was going to chase me that hard, I was going to finally quit running.”[1] If you’re running, He’s searching for you.
[1] “Jeff Foxworthy Leads Homeless Shelter Small Group.” Facebook, 21 Jan. 2025, https://fb.watch/xgf318T5_Y/?mibextid=wwXIfr. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
