The One

THE ONE

” If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the ONE?” Matthew 18:12 (MSG)

The ninety-nine or the one? – It’s an interesting question Jesus was asking. It speaks strongly about the heart and nature of God.

The context here is that Jesus’ followers (disciples) were looking to climb the ladder of significance in Jesus’ ministry, to discover who would be the greatest in the kingdom. It was still all about them. If any of them had been the shepherd in the story, the one sheep who wandered off would have been lost, without even being noticed.

God is into numbers. Did you know that He counts sheep? 1 2 3 4 5 6 …99. He’s interested in every single one. He’s interested in you … but not only you. There are many “ONE’s” out there – your neighbour, a workmate, the child in the supermarket trolley, the lady at the cafe, the business’ couple, the crying baby boy, the giggling teenage girl, the blank-faced gentleman waiting at the bus stop.

Whilst ‘you’ are immeasurably important to God the reality is that everyone is important. No one goes unnoticed to Him. However there are ‘ones’ out there that are in danger of being lost.
Jesus says “…go after the one” (Matt 18:12b)

To God every ONE counts. We can all count to ONE.

JEFF ATHERTON
Senior Minister, People Builders Church
Port Macquarie