293. God will Search and Seek
Ezekiel 34:11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
The Lord promises to search for His sheep and seek them out. This is the Lord, the Good Shepherd, in action. First, the Good Shepherd seeks out lost and strayed sheep that are not of His fold (“other sheep have I”). He lifts them up, binds them up, and brings them in. He died and rose for them, tells them the Good News, and saves them by the Gospel.
Second, the Good Shepherd searches for these sheep that were in the fold, but then strayed away and got lost. He picks them up and brings them back. Jesus uses this image of a shepherd looking for the lost sheep in His parables. This seeking and finding the lost applies to those who have never been in the fold and those who have been in the fold and then strayed off.
In either case, it is the Lord, the Good Shepherd, who looks for me to save me and give me life when I am baptized or come to believe in Him, And it is the Good Shepherd who counts me in, and if He doesn’t account for me He goes out and looks for me wherever I may have gotten lost. He knows where I am, but until He finds me I do not know where I am, nor do I even see that I am lost. The Lord must convince me that I am lost and in danger, and then I will allow Him to pick me up, put me on His shoulders or hold me to His chest, and gently carry me back where I belong. He places me back again into the safe place where He can take care of me,
There are also times in life when life doesn’t make sense, I am at wit’s end, things are just not right, I don’t know what’s wrong, and I don’t know what to do. In times like these “baa” for the Shepherd and let Him find you, He will be there. At other times, we tend to blame God or others for the things that are wrong In life or we just complain about what’s going on. Again, call on the Lord and He will be there. Actually, He’s always been there just waiting for your cry for help, because He has been looking for you. And it is a great comfort to know at all times that He has His watchful eye upon us and His outstretched arms are reaching for us.