You don't know you’re lost until you’re found. Just let that sink in for a minute. 

I know most of you have probably heard the parable of the lost sheep from Luke chapter 15, but have you really listened to it? Really applied it to your life? Really thanked God for leaving the 99 to find you? If you haven’t done these things, or even if you haven't heard it, I want you to hear it again.  

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15: 1-7

I’m about to get extremely vulnerable and personal with how Jesus left the ninety-nine to find me. I was once a runaway sheep, the sheep that Jesus left the flock for. I had been running away from Jesus for so long that I thought I would never be found, and to be quite honest I was fine with that. I was fine with the sinful life I was living. I was fine getting drunk and smoking weed and going to clubs. I was fine with falling into sexual sin and pornography. I was fine with never being found. BUT JESUS WASN’T FINE WITH THAT. He knew he could find me. He knew that one day I would be doing bible studies on Saturday nights instead of going to the club. He knew that one day I would be waking up early on Sunday mornings to bring people to church instead of sleeping all day from a ranging hangover. He knew that one day I would abandon everything to pursue the calling He placed on my heart. He knew that one day I would be hugging the orphan children in Guatemala. He knew that there was more for me. Jesus left the 99 to search for me, and HE FOUND ME. 

No matter how far away you run from Jesus, you are NEVER too far gone for Him. At the end of verse 4 it says that Jesus looks for the lost sheep “until it is found”, not until the sun goes down or until he gets tired, but until it is no longer lost. Jesus had been searching for me for years, but he never gave up. He left the 99 to search day in and day out for me and he finally found me. When Jesus finds the lost sheep he “lays it on his shoulders and rejoices” (verse 5). He doesn't get angry at the sheep for running away, or judge it for doing so. Instead, he takes the weight of the sheep, puts it on his OWN back, and carries it home with a smile on his face. Jesus found me when I was at my darkest, when I thought I was too lost to ever be found. He picked me up and carried me home. I can now confidently say that the person I was when I was the runaway sheep, is NOT the same person I am today. I am made new in Jesus Christ. No longer running away from Jesus, but instead helping other sheep run towards him. 

Jesus doesn't run away from runaways!! Always remember that.