A WEARY man entered the house at nearly midnight, and gladly sitting down, began to remove his wet coat and shoes. He was a preacher of the good news of God's grace to lost sinners, who had been laboring to spread the glad tidings of salvation, and he hoped soon to enjoy the sweet sleep of a laboring man. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and a boy asked him to go to see his brother who was dying.
"Where do you live?"
"About three or four miles away." "Will it do if I come tomorrow morning?"
"No, sir; I was to be sure not to come back without you, as my brother may not live until morning."
The clothing was put on again, and tired though he was, it was the preacher's joy to follow the example of his Lord and Master, who, though weary at the well (John 4:66Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. (John 4:6)), found it His meat to do His Father's will.
As they trudged on together over the wild snow-covered moor, the gentleman found out from his young companion that the sick boy could not read, that he had never been to Sunday school and that there was no Bible in the home. In due time they reached the boy's home, a rude cabin, containing one room. In a corner of the wretched abode lay the poor boy.
The gentleman sat down beside the bed, and told him, as simply as possible, of his lost condition as a sinner, of the love of God in giving His beloved Son, of the love of the Lord Jesus in coming to die. But all was in vain, the boy did not seem able to comprehend the fact either of his own sinfulness, or of God's love.
All at once it occurred to God's servant to inquire how his illness came on. He was told that one of the few sheep belonging to the' boy's father had strayed away some weeks before. The boy, knowing that his father felt the loss of his sheep very much, determined if possible to find it. Although weary and hungry after many miles of tracking the straying sheep through the snow, he kept on until he saw it in the distance. He hurried on, and, taking hold of the sheep, tried to make it walk back, but found that the only way was to drag or carry it. After a great deal of labor he succeeded in bringing back the lost sheep, to the great delight of all at home. On that day, however, he took cold and became weaker and weaker, until it was plain that his life was fast ebbing away.
That was the very thing the gentleman needed to know. Sitting down again beside the dying boy, he read these verses:
"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." Luke 15:4-74What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:4‑7).
"Now," he said to the dying boy, "you are the lost sheep. You, like all other people, have strayed away from the fold. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, whose Father loved His sheep; Jesus came down, followed the sheep, found it, and brought it home rejoicing. It cost Him His life to do it; that is, Jesus died on the cross, in order to bring back His sheep."
The Spirit of God graciously blessed the illustration, the light flashed into the dark soul of the dying boy. He learned that he was the lost sheep that Jesus came to save. Joy filled his heart, and out of its fulness he often spoke of the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep.
Reader, have you learned that you were included when God said,
Have you through faith in this same Good Shepherd been brought from your straying course into a place of safety?
Messages of God’s Love 10/23/1932