99

Luke 15:4
Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

There is a higher calling for us to leave the 99 and go after the 1 who needs to hear Christ. A few lessons I see here:

.. We can 'leave' what is currently set in place and 'go after' the ones who is the priority.
.. There is a time for the most important ones and there is time for the nurturing of who are in the sheepfold.
.. In order for the 99 sheep to not feel abandoned, they need to be nurtured and cared for to be mature enough to know what is going on.

In church's setting, I see this as a balancing of the nurturing of those who are already in the fold (our current sheep now) and taking the time as well to go after the lost ones (ones who received Christ needs time for follow-up and nurturing).

In my personal life, I need to learn to balance the importance of maintaining the nurturing portion and giving time to what is necessary. A balance is necessary otherwise the '99' might go off running as well. What is the 'lost' side of my personal life? What '99' can I leave? I need to learn which ones to prioritize and when I need to 'go after' what is lost.

// Lord, please help me to be able to balance things out the way you would do things. Guide me that I may know which '99' in my personal life I need to 'leave off' that I may go after what's most important. In my church life, that you help me to also balance out the important things and know how to do them. Guide me and help me to really discern your ways and not what I feel. Thank you for your rich Word. In Jesus' name, amen.