Monday May 27, 2024
Theme: “The need for salvation gives rise to the need for a good shepherd”
Text: Matthew 18:12-14
12. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the other ninety and nine on the mountains, and go and seek the one that has gone astray? 13. And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, it will give him more joy than the ninety-nine who did not go astray. 14. Likewise, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Let's remember:
The need for salvation gives rise to the need for a good shepherd. Need is the requirement born from a feeling of lack, of deprivation of something which is necessary for life. It is also the feeling of deprivation which leads us to desire what we believe we lack; it is an imperative necessity like the need for salvation. Salvation means “deliverance and liberation.” The Christian who has attained Salvation is delivered, freed from sin, from dissatisfaction, and "saved" from eternal condemnation to hell. He has access to paradise and thus enjoys an eternal relationship with God. Salvation is associated with Christ, the redeemer of humanity; thus soteriology is linked to Christology. The verb to arouse means to give rise to a feeling, an idea. If we rephrase this theme, it would become: obtaining salvation comes through a good shepherd. The good shepherd guards the entrance to the sheepfold and protects his sheep. He counts them to make sure none are lost. The average shepherd may be careless, but the good shepherd is willing to lose his life for the salvation of his sheep. The good shepherd would never allow a single one of his sheep to be lost. He would abandon all his concerns and his riches to go find her. Let us not be the lost sheep that gives work to the shepherd. The will of our Lord, the good Shepherd, is that no sheep should be lost. Let us always renew the need for salvation, the good shepherd is available, salvation rests in his bosom. Have a great Monday. Amen
Alain Louz.-
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