Jul 23

Matthew 9:35-38
Memorise Matthew 9:37-38
“…let us see other people as lost sheep who should be won for Christ...”

Jesus’ fame had spread far and wide as He continued preaching the Gospel and performing miraculous acts to authenticate His status as the Son of God. Everywhere He went, multitudes of people followed Him. The blind yearned to see, the lame hoped to walk and the sick needed Christ the Great Physician. Everywhere He turned there was someone trying to get His attention and someone in need of His healing touch. If we were in the same situation, many of us would likely be stressed or irritated with the crowd. However, Jesus never showed any impatience with the crowd and healed “every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35). He thought not of His own tiredness or physical needs but saw the great need of the multitude as “they fainted”. He saw that they were lost and scattered, and were as “sheep having no shepherd”. They were not only in need of His physical healing but were even more in need of His spiritual healing and the eternal life which only His blood could give. The heart of the Shepherd throbbed with love for His lost sheep.

We often encounter big crowds in our small city of Singapore and many people complain of the lack of space. They get irritated when others jostle for space with them on public transport and even curse and swear at them. Let no Christian be found guilty of that. Let us instead be as Christ and see other people, whether in a big group or alone, as lost sheep who should be won for Christ. See the greater crowds as greater opportunities to witness for Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable us to have spiritual eyes to see people as they truly are – souls in need of Jesus’ saving blood. Look past superficial appearances of arrogance and masks of meanness that others may put on. They may offend you or hurt your feelings but look past that. Determine in your heart to consciously see people as Jesus’ lost sheep and find opportunities to win them into the fold. Not only that, Jesus wants us to pray for more labourers to help win His lost ones back to Him for indeed, “the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

Thought: Do you see the unbelievers around you as lost sheep who need to know Christ?
Prayer: Dear Lord, please give me a heart that feels as the Shepherd does for His lost sheep.