The One…

The One…8-25-25

My grandson called at 8:00 pm a couple of nights ago and asked to come spend the night. “Moppy, can I practice shooting my bow?” It was dusk, and he began to shoot. He had 10 archery arrows. I would get up and help him find arrows that would burrow into the grass. These were barely visible. Some, we walked by many times before we saw them as the grass obscured their appearance.

He shot the ten arrows again, and we went to gather them. We could only find nine, but not the last one. As we were looking, my grandson commented that it was lost. It was okay, because he said that he still had nine. As we walked and searched, I began to remind him of the story that Jesus told in Matthew and Luke of the 99. The shepherd left the 99 to search for the one. The story reminds us of the shepherd leaving the sheep to go in search of the lost. Oh, the rejoicing in Heaven over the one that is lost and comes to Christ.

I thought of how sad it is that not everyone will come to Christ. Not everyone who is presented the Gospel will believe. Some sheep will remain lost. How incredibly sad is the thought of even one not coming to Jesus, not experiencing God’s grace, and not having the peace of everlasting life.

Luke 15:3-7, “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.’ 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 haven’t found the arrow, yet. Maybe, there is still time. Unfortunately, many people feel like there will be time to come to Christ. But, do we know the time? No, no one does. Paul quotes Isaiah in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. ”I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”