sick sheep

There lives in a mansion far, far away, a Physician, greater than any who came before Him. His fame ran everywhere, drawing many to Him. Multitudes carried their sick, laid them before Him, and brought them back fully restored. The Physician loved the people; they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He longed to lead them.

But they all had a disease, and it was killing them. The Physician had the cure. It was costly; He had paid dearly for it. Leaving His mansion, He allowed Himself to be whipped, beaten, mocked, and spit on by the diseased ones. They did not know what they were doing, for the virus had so infected them that it blinded their eyes.

The Physician cried out with pain, but it was not over. He subjected Himself to the consequence of the virus, and it killed Him.

But He did not stay dead, for He Himself did not have the virus. Now He had the cure, having paid for it with His life. He returned to His mansion, offering the cure to anyone who would take it.

Many came to Him and were healed. Then those that were healed went about the country, telling those whom they met about this wonderful cure. The Physician began to build more mansions. One day, He would again leave His own mansion, and go out and gather all of those who accepted His cure and bring them to live with Him.

He watched as His found sheep, those He had cured, shared the good news with the lost sheep. He watched as thousands came running to Him, and He rewarded the sheep who were sharing the cure. As He saved the multitudes, He sent them out again to keep telling the good news.

Just as His fame for healing the sick had spread through the whole country, so the news of His cure spread through the world. He had sheep everywhere.

But something happened.

He noticed that His people were getting a different disease. He had seen it in a few in the beginning, but now it had spread. It was infecting nearly all of them, and only a few were left who had not been affected by it.

And it was blinding them as well. They saw, to be sure. They saw what they had done, the people they had told, and the places their news had reached. And they saw it as enough. It was time now for them to have pleasure, and time for another one, someone else, to take their place and tell of the cure. They were satisfied with what they had accomplished.

It grieved the Physician. They ignored His commission, the command He had given them, to share the cure with everyone. They no longer saw lost souls trapped by a virus. They just saw the outside. They no longer saw the eternity in the hearts of people. They forgot how the Physician had traveled from His mansion, and how they had killed Him. They forgot the intense agony He had suffered. They forgot His love. They were selfish with the cure and did not share it. They forgot the blood that had been shed for them and for the other lost people. Or maybe they didn’t forget, but rather lost its significance…

They no longer felt as the Physician did. They lost His passion for lost sheep. They were unfeeling.

They were sick sheep.

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The story isn’t over. The end just hasn’t been written yet.

The diseases are real. I think you can recognize the first. Sin. It blinded us, enslaving us, killing us. Many have come to Jesus for healing, salvation from their sin, and His blood is the cure. When He left, He gave us the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” If you read Acts, you can see how well the early church responded to this; see how thousands of people came to Christ; see the passion of Christ for the lost displayed in these first believers; see the Holy Spirit moving.

But today, we, the church, at least here in America, have contracted a disease that has crippled so many of us.

Complacency. We have become satisfied with our achievements, thinking that it is enough.

This disease has a symptom.

Apathy. We have become desensitized, losing the passion and vision of Jesus.

We wonder why our work and ministry is not bearing fruit. But with the Gospel as our message, which does not return void, and with the Lord, Who does not fail, to open doors, the problem must be with us. We are sick sheep.

Does that concern you?

Please, let it concern you. The story is not over, the end just hasn’t been written yet. We have a life and the message of a cure. Let us not waste it! Let us not keep the living water to ourselves, let us not forget the battle, let us not neglect our calling! Let us not let the story end with the Physician leaving His mansion to find His sheep still sick, and sleeping.

The story is yours, and it’s not over. The end just hasn’t been written yet. How will it be written?