Unique You!

Matthew 18:12-18 

"What is your opinion? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety- nine and go after the one? 13 And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety- nine who stay put? 14 Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

Food for Thought!

The parable of the lost sheep is a clear indication that in God's economy everybody counts. It means that one is as good as many and many are as good as one. Why this? Because there's none of us somewhere else; if any of us is lost there's no more of us living somewhere. It means there's is only one of you, only one of me; you're not repeated and are not repeatable. When we're lost we're lost because they is no substitute. This is why the shepherd left the ninety nine to go after one. This is why God does not want to lose even the little ones.

What does this mean in practice? It means that we're special; that all of us and each one of us is special; it means that there is none like you, there is none like me; that God customizingly made each one of us different; that each one of us is a different story, a unique story. It means that though there may be similarities in our individual stories, we're completely different. It means that each one's story, not only had a different beginning, but also will have a different ending.

The parable shows us that God deals with us on a one to one basis. Though we're many, some say too many, we're known individually and we count. If God deals with us individually, we must deal with God as individuals. Some of us relate with God when we're among many and don't know how to relate with God as individuals. How long can you retreat yourself into private prayer and meditation? When did you last sit down alone to pray without some prayer book, just praying from your heart?

If God made us different and UNIQUE, why do we envy other people? We should instead admire ourselves and the gifts God gave us. Be happy with what you have received from God instead of envying what God has given to others. And appreciate and develop that which makes you unique. Do you know your uniqueness, by the way? What makes you different from everybody else? Or you are the lost sheep? The sheep that Jesus is looking for? Are you not lost?