A Glimpse into the Parable of the Ninety and Nine

I am a writer.  I write when I’m happy. I write when I’m sad.  I write to remember; and I write to forget.  I start my day off every morning with prayer, meditation, study, and journaling.  Journaling has always been something that has been a peaceful outlet for me.  Just last year I probably went through three or so personal journals, as well as a few “burn pages” for hard times.  When I write my words become an extension of me, and a way to hold onto the present, when the present turns into the future.

99% of my words stay kept away in various journals and notebooks around my house for safekeeping, in case I ever need to recall a special moment.  Every now and then I like to take out an old journal of mine and cruise through the pages to see what my life was like when I was writing.  Being able to recall certain memories with such exactness and detail in emotion is why I write.

Today when I came home, I started to think about a certain time in my life, when I met someone who greatly impacted my outlook on life.  I knew that I had detailed the experience in an old college journal.  I went to my stack of journals, and this particular one was nowhere in sight.  I searched high and low, tearing apart my entire house looking for the journal.  Finally after some time spent searching for my journal, I found it.  I was so happy when I found my lost journal; my mind would finally be at peace.

This short experience reminded me of the parable Jesus tells the Pharisees, when they condemn him for eating with sinners. 

Luke 15: 3-7

3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Although my journal was important to me, in the grand picture it would have made little difference whether or not I found it.  However, each of us are important to Christ.  He is continually seeking us out and inviting us to come to him; sinners and saints alike.  Each of us can be compared to the “lost sheep.”  We wander and go along our own paths, while Christ seeks us out, continually inviting us to return to Him.  When we finally find our way back to Him, He does not scold us for being lost, but celebrates our return with the angels in heaven.

I know that He is there for you.  However far you think you may have traveled away from Him, it is not too far for His love to reach you.  You are never too far from home to return back to Him.