ave you ever felt all alone like no one loves you? Maybe
your Mommy and Daddy don't stay together anymore and you feel like they
don't love you? Or maybe they are just too busy to spend time with you?
Well today I would like to share a story about a little
boy who found out, there is someone who loved him and would always be with
him.
Tom was really sad, things just did not feel good in his
heart. His mommy and Daddy always seemed to be shouting at each other and
being ugly to one other. They were so busy fighting that it seemed they did
not have anytime to spend with him. They didn't have time anymore to find
out what he had done that day and the exciting things he had learnt.
At school he couldn’t even think straight. He was so
lonely and upset that he found it hard to listen to the teacher and what was
being taught. At playtime, he didn't feel like going to play with the other
children. So he would just sit there and watch the other children play as he
ate his lunch alone.
One day as he was walking home from school, he noticed
something was happening at the Library as he passed by. They where having a
story reading time and it was about to start. As he watched the children go
into the library and take there places he felt like he wanted to go inside
and listen. He just had to go and see what it was like. Maybe he would even
find some happiness. As it so happened Tom's parents where not going to be
home for quite some time, so he could easily go and listen to the story and
be back home in time before they got home from work.
He carefully took his place in the very back of the room
so no one would see him, he couldn't wait for the story to start. All the
children where talking to one another, wondering what the story would be
this week. After sometime a very friendly lady entered the room. She seemed
to have a special something about her that made her different to many of the
grown ups Tom had spoken to or been around. In her hand was a big leather
bound book, which seemed to be quite thick and quite heavy. She sat down and
asked the children for some silence, because she wanted to start reading the
story. A deep hush fell over the whole room as the lady opened the book up
and started reading.
The story went some thing like this:
There once was a shepherd that had a flock of sheep, 100
hundred to be exact. Every day the shepherd would take the flock of sheep to
a beautiful meadow filled with juicy grass for them to eat which also had a
lovely river in it with cold clean water for the sheep to drink from.
He loved these 100 sheep so much that he knew each one of
the sheep like he only had 1 instead of the hundred. He spent all day from
when the sun came up to when the sun went down making sure each one of the
hundred was happy and safe. He knew which of the sheep could run away and
get lost. He also knew which of the sheep always stayed and never got into
trouble. The shepherd loved the sheep so much that whenever bears and lions
came to hurt or eat the sheep, instead of running away, he would do all he
could to fight and frighten the bad animals away to keep the sheep safe from
harm. Even though this meant that the shepherd might get hurt while
protecting the sheep.
Now one day as the sun was setting in the sky, the
shepherd saw that one of the sheep was missing. It was no where to be seen.
He was so worried that you know what he did? He left all the other 99 sheep
so that he could go and find that one that was lost. He searched and he
searched till he found it and when he did, he was so happy! The sheep had
fallen and hurt it self so he fixed its cuts and bruises, then carried the
hurt sheep in his arms all the way home, while he lead the rest of the flock
of sheep safely all the way home.
As Tom listened to the story he so wished he could be
that lost little sheep. He was lost, hurt and in need of someone to care for
him. He so wanted someone to just take care of his hurting little heart.
Then Tom heard the best news of all! The Lady asked if
the children would like to know where they could find the story and if they
would like to read the book it came from. Everyone was excited and shouted
all at the same time that they wanted to know. The lady then told them that
the story could be found in the Bible and that all they needed to do to find
it, is to look in the book of Matthew. She also told them that there were
many other wonderful stories in the Bible that would be great to read. She
also invited anyone to come and talk to her if they really loved that story,
because there was something more she wanted to tell them.
Tom just had to find out more! He could not go home till
he had found out all he could about this story. He quietly walked to the
lady and asked her to tell her more about the story and the Bible. He told
her how he loved the way the Shepherd always loved the sheep and did
anything to keep them safe. As he spoke the Lady could see that there was
something wrong with Tom, she could see that he was hurting inside. So she
explain the story to him a little better.
Tom was only to happy to have someone give him some time
and he eagerly sat there as she told him this: You see Jesus is the Shepherd
and all the people in the world that have Jesus in their heart are his
sheep. He loves each one all the same and will do anything to keep them
happy, healthy and safe. He loved His sheep so much, that he put his life in
the way of all the bad things that would ever happen to the sheep. Because
He did this He died on a cross, but he loved the sheep so much that he came
back to life so that he could take special care of them again. She also told
him that if he asked him, Jesus would come and live in his heart.
Tom for the first time felt that he was not alone. There
was someone that really loved him and would do anything to make sure he was
happy, healthy and safe. He knew that Jesus was the only one who could be
there for him and that it was only Jesus who could take the hurting in his
heart away. So right there he asked the lady to help him bring Jesus into
his heart.
The prayer he prayed went something like this:
"Jesus I need you.
Please come into my heart.
I want to become one of your sheep Jesus.
I want you to look after me and protect me.
Thank you for dying on the cross to take all the bad
things away.
And thank you for your blood that made me clean from all
the bad things.
Thank you for coming back from the dead to look after
your sheep.
I want to live my life for you Jesus.
Come and be my savior.
In Jesus Name,
Amen"
Right away Tom could feel something change inside. He
could feel a change in him that he could not explain. He felt like a new
person and best of all, his hurting heart had stopped hurting and was now
full of peace and bursting with joy over the love that his new Shepherd
Jesus had for him.
Are you hurting today? Are you wanting for someone to be
with you all the time? Someone that understands you and loves you no matter
what you do, good or bad?
You do have someone like this and He is standing right
there by you and all you need do is open your heart to Jesus. He is such a
special person, He loves you so much and want to look after you and make
sure you never hurt again.
Maybe you have Jesus in your heart already, but the devil
is telling you that Jesus doesn't love you. I want to tell you something.
The devil is a liar, he can't tell the truth even if you paid him to, so
tell that liar to leave you alone in Jesus name. Now look into the eyes of
your loving Jesus and you will see for yourself how much He loves you.
Get to know Jesus in a special way today and you will
always have a Shepherd there that is looking out for you and will never
leave you no matter what comes to scare and hurt you.
Amen!
