Daily Devotional For Monday, December 22, 2025

Note: In each devotional where you see only the reference to a Bible passage without the verse (ex. John 3:16), that is a direct link to that passage online. All you have to do is click on that reference and you will be taken to the verse itself. Thank you.

We are making our way through Matthew’s Gospel and today we are going to limit our devotional to just  Matthew 18:11-12:

“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (12) What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? (13) If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. (14) So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (NLT).

We are picking up with this same passage today to look at it deeper and how this applies to our lives. Matthew 18:1-14 is about God’s love for “little ones” who wander off. Meaning they are lost in God’s house (family) and this is a temporary lostness. This is not a minor issue but it is not the same as the “lostness” in Luke 15:11-32. It is one thing to lose your cellphone in your house because that is temporary. It is annoying and with “Find My Phone” (Apple) you can ping your phone and have it make a sound for you to find it. It is not permanently lost; it has just temporarily been found in another precise place. 

So people can be “lost” temporarily or permanently. Here, Jesus draws our attention to the temporarily lost sheep. So, Jesus uses the tool of comparison to teach this point. A shepherd has 100 sheep and later when he counts them, he discovers he only now has 99. Does that shepherd say, “No problem. I still have 99.” No. Why? With that attitude his number of sheep will continue to go down because sheep tend to wander. What does a loving and responsible shepherd do? He goes to find that wandering sheep and brings it home to the rest of the flock. 

The Greek New Testament word translated as “search” in verse 12 is [ζητέω; zeteo]. It refers to a continual search that does not stop until that sheep is found and returned to the flock. This applies to both the temporarily lost and the permanently lost. We are to have the same heart, passion and search determination that Jesus describes in verse 14. In this, Jesus teaches us 4 biblical truths we can learn and apply to our lives:

1. God cares for the individual. In Mark 5 Jesus is being pressed by crowds while He is approached by a leader of a local synagogue named Jairus, whose daughter was dying. While enroute, a woman pressed to get to Jesus and simply touched the hem of His robe and was healed. As power went out from Jesus to her, Jesus pointed this out in Mark 5:30-31. Jesus called her out and told her that her faith had healed her. We see the same attitude of Jesus caring for an individual such as Zaccheus (see Luke 19:5).
2. God seeks us when we wander or stray away from Him. God’s goal is to finish what He started in us (see Phil. 1:6). Just prior to this, Jesus saw His own disciples wandering off arguing about who would be the greatest in His Kingdom. Jesus brought them back to reality by using a small child as an example.
3. Jesus rejoices when we return. When someone wanders off to sin and then repents, God rejoices and so does heaven (see Luke 15:7). When our children grow up and are overcome with skepticism and doubts due to their “enlightened” college professors, and then later return, there is a holy joy from God and the angels over this. There is a celebration. 
4. God shepherds His people through shepherds in His people. We all have been given the commandment to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). This command is given to every single believer, not just paid staff. If you say, “PK, I don’t know any lost people.” Well, ask God to open your blind spiritual eyes to see them. They are in every grocery store, restaurant, Walmart, school, and etc. You don’t have to travel overseas to find them. In addition, God commands the more mature believer to seek out the less mature believer who has wandered away (see Gal. 6:1). We see the same emphasis in James 5:19-20. 

Assignment: How intentional are you to reach the spiritually lost and the spiritually wandering? Does it really bother you that people die and go to hell? Does it really bother you that people leave the flock (the church) never to return? If you say, “Yes,” good. But does it bother you enough to go find them and help them come to the flock of the Lord?

Scripture To Meditate On: Luke 15:7, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Lord, please give me a heart for the lost and the wandering sheep. Forgive me for being so intense about church politics, or church ministries or church budgets or by-laws or buildings. Give me a heart for the lost and wandering sheep like You have. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly