Found
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:03 am
Reading of the rescue of the lost sheep, I recounted the rescue of the Sacrficing Shepherd in my own family. My father was an alcoholic (a polite way of saying a drunk), and a drug addict...and a criminal, a.k.a. a very lost sheep - "a profound perspective" on his true identiyy.
It didn't start out all that bad at the beginning. In his teen years, it was a mere wandering, "harmless" lifestyle choices and a heart full of pain. The wandering ended 16 long, painful, consequential years later, with his words, "it's too late". He had been led and lured into the darkest of places without any hope of any way out. No rescue. No recourse. Too far gone. Too late.
Merely 2 weeks after this, he was critically injured in a fall that left him brain damaged, in a coma, and on death's door. The Shepherd had determined that his wandering was coming to an end. What happened next, after 6 weeks was nothing short of a two hands up hallelujah miracle. Against all odds he regained consciousness, learned to speak, talk and walk again, and function independently. Through this brokenness, I came to Christ and laid my broken pieces at His feet. Through this I led my Father to Christ. Through this my mother came to Christ. We were home. Nothing of God's saving, finding, forgiving grace was earned or sought. Pure gift. Pure love. Pure Shepherd seeking more of His lost sheep. My father was but one of the numberless lost sheep without the Shepherd. They are all around me.
Knowing You still seek, search and save, restore to us Lord the passionate intercession and courageous determined action that affects our affect and moves our hearts for the lost.
It didn't start out all that bad at the beginning. In his teen years, it was a mere wandering, "harmless" lifestyle choices and a heart full of pain. The wandering ended 16 long, painful, consequential years later, with his words, "it's too late". He had been led and lured into the darkest of places without any hope of any way out. No rescue. No recourse. Too far gone. Too late.
Merely 2 weeks after this, he was critically injured in a fall that left him brain damaged, in a coma, and on death's door. The Shepherd had determined that his wandering was coming to an end. What happened next, after 6 weeks was nothing short of a two hands up hallelujah miracle. Against all odds he regained consciousness, learned to speak, talk and walk again, and function independently. Through this brokenness, I came to Christ and laid my broken pieces at His feet. Through this I led my Father to Christ. Through this my mother came to Christ. We were home. Nothing of God's saving, finding, forgiving grace was earned or sought. Pure gift. Pure love. Pure Shepherd seeking more of His lost sheep. My father was but one of the numberless lost sheep without the Shepherd. They are all around me.
Knowing You still seek, search and save, restore to us Lord the passionate intercession and courageous determined action that affects our affect and moves our hearts for the lost.