“So Jesus spoke to them, using this parable: “Wouldn’t any man among you who owned a hundred sheep, and lost one of them, leave the ninety-nine to themselves in the open, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will put it on his shoulders with great joy, and as soon as he gets home, he will call his friends and neighbours together. ‘Come and celebrate with me,’ he will say, ‘for I have found that sheep of mine which was lost.’ I tell you that it is the same in Heaven—there is more joy over one sinner whose heart is changed than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need for repentance (Luke 15:4-7 Phillips).”
Songwriter Cory Asbury titled one of his songs, “Reckless Love.” The repeated lyrics throughout the song appear to be based on words from Luke 15:4. He writes:
“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine,,.”
These words from Scripture, which seem to be the obvious basis for the song remind me of a story that I’ve wanted to tell for some time.
We recently moved from Arizona into a complex of apartment homes in Maryland. The neighborhood has lovely landscaping and each apartment entrance door is painted black with brass accessories. Each entrance is accessible from the parking lot to a sidewalk up to each home. Around midnight on this particular day, we suddenly realized that Cinders, our in-door cat, was nowhere to be found in the apartment. We walked around the front and back of the house and called her as quietly as possible so as not to disturb our neighbors. We had a serious concern because the night temperature had dropped into the 30’s. We prayed for her and went to bed with the determination to search for her early the next morning. During our morning search of the front of the complex, one neighbor indicated that “a cat” had scratched on their door and jumped up to bang their door knocker the night before. I was just about to give up my search when the Lord gave me the idea of driving around the back of our building and calling her name and clapping my hands for her to come, as I usually do. You can probably write the rest of this story. Yes, when she heard my voice and repeated clapping she came running from around the side of another building and seemed to be thrilled when I put her in the car.
Some of us can testify to the similar fear she probably had that night. She was close to her house but every door was painted the same color. I like to think that she knew she was loved and that one of us would come to find her. One very interesting point is that her body was warm as if she had not spent the night outside in the cold. “Someone” had possibly taken her in.
How grateful we can be that God does not give up on looking for us ― and keeping us warm ― when we have lost our perspective on the life He wants us to live. “[He] chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine.”
Phyllis Andrews 5/16/22
