GOD Morning! April 19, His Shoulders

GOD Morning! April 19

His Shoulders

Luke 15:1-10

15 Now the tax collectors and [notorious and especially wicked] sinners were all coming near to [Jesus] to listen to Him.

² And the Pharisees and the scribes kept muttering and indignantly complaining, saying, This man accepts and receives and welcomes [preeminently wicked] sinners and eats with them.

³ So He told them this parable:

⁴ What man of you, if he has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness (desert) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his [own] shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶ And when he gets home, he summons together [his] friends and [his] neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost.

⁷ Thus, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.

⁸ Or what woman, having ten [silver] drachmas [each one equal to a day’s wages], if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and look carefully and diligently until she finds it?

⁹ And when she has found it, she summons her [women] friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the silver coin which I had lost.

¹⁰ Even so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his past sins).

I was curious about these 99 righteous folks. Here’s a small excerpt of a beautiful article that I found.

“Who are the 99 righteous who need no repentance? I have to confess that I think, back then as now, they are probably “church people.” Blind to their own “lostness” they continue celebrating their righteous “foundness”—finding it in themselves.

It shall be the “lost found ones”—one at a time, outnumbered, looked down upon and regarded as lowly—who will stand up and speak against such unholy unity of voice. One “lost found one” at a time will come to know their place and strain to hear the voice of the one Good Shepherd above the howling.

I know my place—it is a rather odd seat of honor. Life is different on the Shepherd’s shoulders. Though it is no place of comfort and He takes me where I would rather not go, I know that if He puts me down I’m a goner. I’ll be once again in need of being found… in other words, lost. Like a small child, no stroller is good enough, too easily abandoned. No hand is tight enough, for the crowd presses in all around and it is a sea of knees and feet and shadows. His shoulders are the safe though embarrassing place as others gawk, point, whisper and declare the lost one has been returned—again. So be it!

Being lifted onto the shoulders of the One who loves you to death, His own, is music to your ears—it sounds ever so much like an angel choir. Being found in need of repentance is pure gift, for it puts one sheep at a time in their place. It’s not a “right”ful place; it is a “grace”ful one.

I prefer the view from Jesus’ shoulders and I intend to make it ever so difficult for Him to put me down. God willing, through preaching and teaching I will join others on His shoulders as we call out to His sheep—wandering and lost—that home is one lift away.” Jaynan L. Clark

 “Dear Jesus, please forgive me for thinking for one moment that I have no need for repentance. You are my righteousness. I am the sinner who needs to be found. I am lost and undone. I am in need of a Savior.”

Excuse me, I have to go now. I have one desire. I am going to beg, through groaning and travailing, for my Jesus to lift me up to my favorite place… His shoulders.