The 99

Every time I heard the story of the one lost sheep which the shepherd leaves the 99 to go find, I always wondered why he wasn’t worried about the 99 going missing. He had more to loose leaving them behind so why go after the one?

Jesus answers this question in John 10:1-9 where he says “I am the gate”. He knows the 99 are safe because they know him. His love is reckless, but he is not a carelessly emotional shepherd who does not care about the rest of his sheep. He trusts that they know him and so cannot be lost.

This is God’s plan for his children. He’s so sure that when you really get to know him you can not turn away. He has such confidence in himself and his love for us. More importantly, he has confidence in us that if only we get to know him, we will never be lost.

So his call to us is intimacy. “Stay with me until you know how I walk, how I talk, how I smell, how I smile. Stay until all that matters is me. Stay until I am the gate to your heart, where nothing moves you unless you know it is my will.”

This what it means to be among the 99. The ones who cannot be lost.