“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.’” (Ezek. 34:11)
LOST THINGS NEED TO BE FOUND. Car keys, TV remotes, cell phones, and dogs get lost. When we lose these things, we search relentlessly for them until they are found. We look everywhere we think they could possibly be. Sometimes they show up in the most unexpected and odd places where we didn’t bother to look. That is where we found our dog one day, coming out of the sluice pipe across the road, covered in smelly sludge. When we found her, we scooped her up, sludge and all, brought her in, and cleaned her up.
God searches for and looks after all that is His. He knows our names and knows where to find us. The Israelites had been scattered throughout the region, mingling with the wrong crowd, getting covered in the sludge of their lostness. The omnipotent God finds His own in some of the most undesirable places, all covered with muck and mire called sin. But He doesn’t leave us there. His love for us is far greater than to leave us covered in our sin. Instead, He picks us up and wipes us clean with grace.
The more we struggle to get out of the muck on our own, it seems, the deeper we find ourselves in it. God is always searching for His own, ready to help us out of the mess.
Let God clean the sin sludge off of you.
Carol Jimerson works as a letter carrier and enjoys gardening, canning, being a grandma, and taking photos.
© 2017 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
