The Good Shepherd and The Lost Sheep

"I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord GOD. The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them in judgment" (Ezekiel 34: 13-16).

In the parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells of how the Shepherd left 99 sheep and went in search of the Lost One.    I believe that Ezekiel 34: 13 – 16 extends this teaching.  Although the sheep was lost on account of its foolishness, the Good Shepherd spared nothing to find it and bring it back safely to the fold.  The Good Shepherd treats the Lost Sheep as the Father of the Prodigal Son treats his lost son.  God is deeply concerned with the lost and His deepest desire is the salvation of all.  O that we may have such sensitivity to the lost sheep.