One

One
 “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” - Luke 15:10
I have a new favorite song these days. It’s called “Black Sheep,” and it’s by a man named Ben Fuller. I don’t know the details of Mr. Fuller’s life history. I do know that in the past he struggled with substance abuse and other issues, and that when he found Jesus, it changed everything. When I listen to the words of his song, it seems evident to me that he fought hard against his election to the flock. Some of the words are stunning in their blunt honesty, but the part that grips my heart the hardest is this:
 
The Good Shepherd’s love smells like smoke
There ain’t no hell so low that He won’t let the hounds of heaven go.”
 
And a few lines on:
 
“Amazing grace is a pesky, pesky thing;
Guess the good news is He’ll never leave you be.
Jesus loves you, black sheep.”
 
This man knows what it is to be pursued by the One who loves us more than we can imagine. He knows what it is to fight hard against the will of God, only to lose to His sovereign and inescapable grace. He knows what it is to finally give in to the life-changing mercy of the Savior.
 
That was not the road I was called to walk. But that makes me no less of a sinner than Ben Fuller, or for that matter anyone else. My call was early and my journey was easier. My late sister used to put it this way: “Jesus is the only way to God, but there are a whole lot of ways to Jesus.” She was right. The paths God uses to draw us to himself are, I believe, unique to each one He calls. But the grace is the same for all, and His love is the same for all. He will not, cannot, leave us be. He pursues us passionately and persistently until we hear the call of his irresistible grace and respond.
 
This morning, I was talking to a fellow church member about this song, and she wondered out loud if that one sheep that the shepherd went after, leaving the ninety-nine, was a black sheep. It’s an interesting question. It could have been. I mean, it is the black sheep who are the outcasts and the loners and the ones no one seems to care much about. It also makes perfect sense when one considers the fact that at some point we have all been the black sheep. We have all been pursued by those hounds of heaven, sent by our insistent Redeemer to round us up and bring us home.
 
Ponder Luke 15:10 for just a moment. When you came to faith, heaven rejoiced. Imagine angels cheering and dancing with glee over the redemption of your soul. The same thing happened when I decided to make Jesus my Lord; and when Ben Fuller finally gave in to grace; and for every single believer, ever. Think of what a joyous place heaven must indeed be with all of that going on all the time! That is what we have to look forward to one day, all because of Christ.
 
Once upon a time, each and every one of us was the black sheep. Each and every one of us was the one for whom He left the ninety-nine. And each and every one of us who believes was pursued by the Good Shepherd’s smoke-scented love and brought home to the Father.
 
Be grateful, friends, and be blessed. Peace.
 
Jackie