The ONE

30 Days with Jesus

Day 16 - Matthew 17:24 - 18:20

I tell you the truth, if he finds it he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that were never lost. v 13 

Growing up believe it or not I was quite a compliant child, I was pretty much reasonably well behaved kept my head down in school and although I was no brain box got reasonable reports. "Tries Hard" seemed to be a common theme which kept my mum reasonably happy.

My brother on the other hand, although much brighter than me, had a different phrase repeated on his report card: “Easily Distracted”.

Jesus was not easily distracted he had a clear focus which is repeated in this chapter again: The Son of Man came to save lost people. v 11
 
It seems to me that so often Jesus was followed by large crowds. And I have a feeling that most of us faced with these situations would have been distracted. What I do know is that nearly all preachers would have been. You see crowds distract people especially if they’ve turned up to see "you". Fame distracts people, yes even preachers, and they can lose sight of the mission and they stop listening to the whisper of God for the adulation of the crowd.

Jesus in his teaching and his actions kept on personalising his mission to the one.

I once heard Andy Stanley say: Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many.

Jesus stayed focused on his mission; staying attentive to the whisper of God to give him another indication of a lost person that was waiting to be found and saved.