Daily Devotionals

The incarnation of the Son of God was a giving of Himself to go after His lost sheep. His whole life upon earth, His entire walk in the flesh, was a following of the strayed ones; for this was the very purpose of His coming, viz., “To seek and to save that which was lost.” And He sought His own “till He found it.” He was not weary with the greatness of the way; He shrank not when the thorns wounded His flesh and tore His feet. He followed us into the deep of our misery, came under the extremity of our malediction. For He had gone forth to seek His own till He found it, and would not pause till then. And having found, how tenderly does the Shepherd of the parable handle that sheep which has cost Him all His labour and fatigue! He does not punish it, He does not smite, nor even harshly drive it back to the fold ; nay, He does not deliver it to a servant, but He lays it upon His own shoulders, and Himself carefully carries it till He brings it to the fold.

—Archbishop Richard Trench (1807–1886)