Optimist Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

If we ever want to know about God’s character, or God’s nature,or what God’s priorities are, we can read about the stories that Jesus tells in the scriptures!! Wherever Jesus traveled, He told a lot of parables, or stories for the people around Him to learn something about God and our faith.

In the book of Luke, chapter 15, we can read about how Jesus welcomed the tax collectors and the sinners to listen to Him. In this particular passage He told them the story about the lost sheep, where He tells about if one of them have 100 sheep and if one of them gets lost, that they will look for that one lost sheep.He tells the crowd that just as that one sheep is found, the owner will be happy, and that is how it is in heaven when one sinner repents and turns away from sin and returns to God.

The interesting part of this passage is that you see the word joy four times in these seven verses of Luke. It reminds us about the joy that God feels when we have a relationship with Him. You see, each and everyone of us matters to God. Even though there are billions of people in the world, every single person is loved unconditionally by our Father in heaven.

Sometimes we can get lost just like that sheep, as we get caught up in things in the world and we stray from our faith and our trust in God. And no matter how far we wander away, God is always looking for us to return to Him. I can’t help but think about the people who have not returned to our churches since the pandemic started.

Even though things have changed, the important thing to remember is that God never changes. He is the same every day and His faithfulness is amazing. I pray every day for those that are lost and hope that they can be found so that there will be rejoicing in heaven for each and every one!!