A sheep away from the shepherd and his supervision is lost. The loss is a great one on both sides, but must in the nature of things result much more bitterly to the sheep than to the shepherd; for he manages to get along without the sheep, but the lost sheep must perish. Yet it is the shepherd that manifests the most concern and goes after the sheep. The loss is the shepherd's indeed; yet it means vastly more to the unthinking sheep. For what is a lost sheep? Unable to care for itself, without natural weapons of attack or armor of defense, or fleetness of foot to escape, and without the instinct and cunning of the wild things, it is already doomed and done for. For a while it may enjoy its freedom from the sheepfold's restrictions, but the end is all too sure. And when the shepherd has found it, the sheep is saved, and it is the shepherd who rejoices. Joy in heaven--over one sinner? What a revelation of the love of God and of his estimate of one sinner--even of a sinner who has long lost all respect for himself!

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