A Daily Devotion for Friday, January 9
- ontrakk
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
Luke 15:3-6
Then Jesus told them this parable: “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? And when he finds it, 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.’“
To try to understand God’s love, we have no other options than to view it from a human perspective. But it seems that this parable was to help people understand that God’s grace and mercy covers everyone, not just those who follow the rules. Verse 7 goes on to say: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” We have to keep from feeling we are in some way better, or entitled to more love than those who are lost, don’t know God, or who can’t seem to follow the rules. I think the writer of the devotion in th UR today was spot on when she stated we must all guard ourselves from being judgemental. We are not entitled to more of God’s love because we love Him and seek Him.
Holy Lord, thank you for this humbling reminder today, that you love all of your creation. I am not entitled to anything special or different from any other. But what I am given is more than enough, and I am thankful. Amen
Becky, transforming
Luke 15:3-6. Gratitude for God's love
Because I was reading too fast--it is such a familiar story--that my eyes strayed to the thought for the day which read: "I can love others like Jesus." But I was rushing and I read it incorrectly. "Can I love others like Jesus?" That stopped me in my tracks. Could I? Could I love my enemies, could I love those I disagree with, could I love those I just don't like? I'm supposed to. This I know--for the Bible tells me so. Then I read it correctly. The gratitude I feel knowing God loves me should translate to me loving all those around me. I mostly do--but some are more difficult tha…
Friday, January 9th, 2025
NO LESS
(Focus: I can love others like Jesus
Luke 15:5
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
No creature strays more easily than a sheep; they pay so little attention to where they are. They are so incapable of finding it’s way back to the flock, when once gone astray: it will cry (bleat) for the flock, and still run in an opposite direction to the place where the flock are. Unlike the lost sheep, God receives the sinner who came to Him the right way. Jesus taught that God actively seeks out the lost He does not have a feeling of resentment in receiving the lost instead, H…
Luke 15:3-6
This parable is the first of the famous trilogy of Luke 15 - the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Each has its own particular twist, but all are focused on the message of God’s unfailing love. In the sheep parable, for a brief time while the shepherd searches for the lost sheep, the 99 are “on their own.” Or are they? There was relative safety in numbers and they could support and be on guard for one another till the crisis had passed. So it is with us. God may have to concentrate more attention on a lost soul, seemingly leaving us alone. But as the writer in the Upper Room points out, God…