You encounter a lost sheep wandering aimlessly down the road. What do you do?

In ancient Israel, God specifically commanded that His people not to ignore or turn a blind eye to its plight. Instead, followers of God should take every step to return a lost animal to its rightful owner and to look after it, even caring for it in their own house, until the rightful owner arrive (deut 22:1-3)

While God cares about animals, I believe this command is about much more than mere livestock. The Bible describes people who have walked away from God as “lost sheep”. If one of these lost ones come across our path, we can’t simply ignore them or turn a blind eye to their plight. We can’t just excuse ourselves of responsibility by saying that they have made their choices (I have myself been guilty of this attitude!).

Our role, in fact our responsibility Biblically speaking, is to lovingly reach out to such a lost individual, with great care looking after them all the while seeking to return them to their rightful owner, God Himself.

He is looking for His lost sheep, and may we be found faithful reaching out to and helping bring these individuals back to Him. As ultimately, this command is about much more than sheep or animals, but rather about precious people whom God longs to see restored to His loving arms.