My name is Solomon Keal. I am a minister for the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which is a Swedenborgian Christian denomination. These are some of my thoughts about the Lord, the symbolic meanings in the Bible, life after death, faith, charity, usefulness, loving the Lord and one's neighbor, the 2nd Coming, Swedenborg's Writings, and other theological stuff.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Finding Our Lost Sheep

A shepherd had a hundred sheep, but one of them was lost.  The Lord is our Shepherd, and He gives us His undivided attention when we are feeling lost.  But we are like shepherds too.  What are the "sheep" that we sometimes lose?  The parable of the lost sheep occurs twice in the gospels (Luke 15:1-7; Matt 18:10-14), in two different contexts.  It describes aspects of our repentance and regeneration.   What do all the characters in this parable represent?  What are the parts of us and other people that can become lost?  How should we treat those parts?