"The Lost Sheep"

"He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake." (Psalms 23:3) If you know anything about sheep, they are always apt to getting lost, and when they are lost, they will seldom find their way home. Unlike dogs, who can usually always find their way, sheep just do not possess the kind of ability to sense which way they should go. When we get lost, or have wondered off the path, it is the Lord that brings us back and puts us upon paths of righteousness; we, like sheep, just do not have that ability to detect which way we should go; nor do we often even realize that we are lost, but we graze in other pastures while believing we are still grazing in the Lord's. We can see a good example with that of David's sin and Bathsheba. All that David had done, by committing adultery with a faithful man's wife, and then by actually having that faithful man killed, just to try and keep his own honor in tact; but who was David fooling, because God's eyes were upon him, and he was hiding nothing from God. David was a lost sheep in that particular time of his life, and he was off the path and way away from the pasture; but God, not wanting David to be astray for too long, sent Nathan unto him, and knowing how David in the innocence of his youth was one who shepherd sheep, Nathan shares a story with David about someones precious only pet lamb. We can sometimes stray away from that which is right; sometimes, it might take something really harsh to get us to understand that we are even lost; it might even take falling all the way to the bottom; but God, as our loving Father, He is always waiting for us to return, and Jesus, as our loving Shepherd, is always looking for a way to bring us home. It might require Him breaking a leg; at which time He will carry us over His shoulder, and always have us by His side; and when that leg heals, we are more obedient to stay close by to Him, and never let Him out of our sight. But, it is God who brings us back; whether it be gentle word or a burst of thunder, He will do whatever it takes to reach into our heart and revive it back to Him. That's pretty much what happens to our heart, it becomes dead and callused to the righteousness of God, and needs to be revived; which sometimes might require God breaking the callused heart in order for it to start beating for Him again. Then again; this also speaks to our initial salvation, and how we really had no clue where we were prior to Jesus calling us out of the darkness, but were dead men and women walking around thinking that we had life, but were only dead souls waiting to be buried. Jesus brought our souls to life; real life that is for all eternity in Him, and that is always looking for a continuation of life, not the grave. And, after giving life to our souls, He then places us on a path of righteousness by placing His Spirit within us and His Word before us, that we are always being directed in the ways that we should go... "If thou wilt diligently harken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee." (Exodus 15:26)