The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:10-14 NKJV)

¹⁰ “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  ¹² “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

As a young man I was blessed to have an opportunity to raise sheep on our small farm and learned their characteristics.  Sheep need assistance from the shepherd to survive and thrive.  In the summer, they would graze and huddle close to the barn at night.  We had to be aware of stray dogs that were looking for a meal.  Each Sunday morning, before going to worship, we would call the sheep to a spot to give them salt and give us an opportunity to count the sheep to assure that all were present and healthy.  During the wintertime, we would bring the sheep to the barn each night.  During the lambing season in early spring, we would go to the barn during the night to check if we suspected a delivery.  Sometimes the mother would not accept her lamb and a surrogate mother from the flock would be found or the lamb would be bottle fed.

Shepherd the Flock (1 Peter 5:1-3 NKJV)

¹The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

For those who serve as shepherds/elders in the Lord’s church, may they serve well.

Today many across the country are celebrating the day called Mother’s Day. The beginning of this holiday is attributed to a Lady named Anna Jarvis. She is said to have made the first official organization of the holiday we call Mother’s Day back in 1908 honoring her mother Ann and work she had done supporting mothers who had lost sons in the civil war. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first nationally recognized Mother’s Day in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. Many other parts of the history of today’s holiday are steeped in the traditions of recognizing mothers and motherhood by giving cards, gifts, and wearing carnations. All of these started well before the recognition given by the National law makers. But what does scripture say about mothers?

Mothers have always been integral to God’s plan for the salvation of the human race. One of the first instances we see of the importance of motherhood is in Genesis 3:20, when the Bible tells us that Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. Eve became the mother of the human race. Without her, none of us would be reading this today. We can read further on in Genesis 17:16-22. Here, God is telling Abraham that Sarah will be a mother of nations and that kings will come from her. God is telling Abraham that his wife and mother of his children will be an important part of the covenant He is establishing with him. Mothers have been important from the beginning. The word mother is mentioned 155 times in the Old Testament.

Mothers are important to us throughout life but especially in those early impressionable years of childhood. Verses like Proverbs 1:8 come to mind saying…My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. The Christian mother is tasked with one of the greatest responsibilities ever bestowed and that is the instruction of young children. It is her duty, whether her children are destined to be kings as the children of Sarah were or if they were meant to be the gentleman down the pew from us, that she instructs them in the ways of God from their earliest days. No greater honor is there than to be in charge of molding young minds for service to the Lord. We should be ever thankful for the wonderful Christian mothers who have passed on their light to the rest of the world so many may know the blessings that come from knowing the ways of God.

Bearing fruit is a common illustration in the Bible because it fitly describes the process of one practicing God’s word.  In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-8), it is the good ground that receives the seed and brings forth much fruit.  In order to be good ground, we must take in the word of God and allow it to change our thinking and actions.  Psalm 1:3 describes the righteous man as, “a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.”  Let’s notice three truths of Psalm 1:3 that are also illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches.

First, the righteous man is planted in the right place to produce fruit.  He is “planted by the rivers of water.”  He is next to the life-giving stream.  One must be planted in Christ to bring forth proper fruit.  Jesus gives an illustration of a vine and branches in John 15.  In verse 5 he says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  It is impossible to bring forth proper fruit to God if one is not connected to Christ.  One may do a lot of good deeds, but unless one gets into Christ by the initial obedience to the Gospel, one cannot bring forth fruit unto God (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27).  There will be those on judgment day who will insist they have done many good deeds, but Christ will reply, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Second, once one is planted in the proper place, one must bear fruit.  The righteous man “brings forth his fruit.”  God’s plan for us is to bear fruit once we are in Christ. Consider Romans 7:4-5, “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.”  Jesus concludes His illustration of the vine and branches by saying, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).

Third, the righteous man not only is fruitful, but he is fruitful at the right time.  He brings forth fruit “in his season.” Jesus said in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”  We learn that we must not languish in the fruit-bearing process.  The Lord’s will is that we bear more fruit.  If we do not bear fruit, then we will be taken away.  Thus, the time to bear fruit is now, lest we lose the connection we have to the source of life.  Too many put off bearing fruit until later only to find that it is too late.  We must be ready for harvest time.

May we all strive to be like the righteous man described in Psalm 1.  If we are planted in the right place, in Christ, if we bring forth fruit, and if we do it at the right time, then we will be righteous.  We are known by our fruits (Matthew 7:15-20).