NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — There’s a passage in the Gospel of Matthew which so well describes the people of this world: “And seeing the crowds, He was moved with pity for them, because they were tired and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (9:36).

How true these words remain! Like sheep without a shepherd and wandering aimlessly here and there looking for fulfillment in life but not finding it, trying this and trying that but without any lasting happiness or purpose: how well this depicts so many around us!

And, how sad! I wonder sometimes how people can live like that, not really knowing their Maker and why they are here in this world. Though they may be knowledgeable and wise, they are not wise in the things which really matter. Though they experience many temporary joys, they know no lasting peace and happiness!

Jesus was filled with pity - moved with compassion - for the people of His day whom He encountered during His earthly ministry. Though they may have been religious, most didn’t even know the God they claimed to worship. Though He was their Maker and came into the world to suffer and die to redeem them, they didn’t recognize Him. Instead of being concerned abouttheir spiritual and eternal well being, their concern was only for earthly things. Instead of desiring the Bread of Life to nourish and give life to their souls, they desired only earthly bread to temporarily nourish their bodies. Though they thought they could see, they were blind to the truth taught throughout the Scriptures.

And nothing has changed. Many people are still religious, but few know their Maker and Redeemer. They seek the Lord, but not for forgiveness and life everlasting; they seek Him only when they desire help to meet their earthly needs. They think they see and know the truth, but they are spiritually blind, dead and in rebellion against their God and Maker.

It’s especially disheartening to see one’s own children or family members wandering about in life without knowing and following the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep and who seeks to gather them into His fold and lead them to nourishing pastures and springs of life-giving waters. Instead of seeking out their Shepherd and hearing Him call them through His Word, they wander off in other directions and pay no heed to the Word.

Jesus urged His disciplesto pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into the harvest; for, He said, the harvest truly is great but the workers are few. That is true today as well. There are so many wandering through life, clueless as to what it’s all about and not knowing the One who suffered, died and rose again and who now offers them pardon, forgiveness and life in fellowship with their Maker, both now and in eternity. But the workers are few - most are clueless themselves and are blind leaders of the blind.While many hold up Jesus as an example of a loving and caring life, few proclaim what Jesus did for all when He, in love, went to the cross and laid down His life for us wandering sheep to win for us forgiveness and life everlasting.

It is my prayer - and I hope it is yours too - that Jesus, the Lord of the Harvest, would raise up workers who, like Him, have pity on all the lost sheep of this world, and that they would go out and proclaim God’s Word - nothing more and nothing less - and call those wandering sheep back from their wandering ways to Jesus, the true Shepherd of their souls.

Jesus is the giver of life and only in Him can lost souls have life!

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by email at rmoll@ nwaonline.com. Scripture quotations by permission from Green's Literal Translation (LITV). Copyright 1993 by Jay P. Green Sr. All rights reserved.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 04/25/2012