He made us unique!

Matthew 18:12-14

“Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? 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 is this so? Because there's none of us repeated 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; he had lost for good a particular sheep. This is why God does not want to lose even the little ones; God does not keep copies of any of us.

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 will have a different ending. So, don't compare yourself to anybody; I am not you, you are not me.

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. Some people can't pray in private, alone except when they go to church or in prayer groups. Please, know that God relates with you as individual, and you can relate to God as individual.

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 gave to others. And appreciate and develop that which makes you unique. Do you know your uniqueness? Do you know that which makes you unique? Can you state in words your uniqueness?