Read: Matthew 18:12-14

“Zeke!” called Layla. “There’s a storm coming. We need to get the chickens in!”

Zeke followed his sister outside. “Do you think chickens are like sheep?” he asked.

Layla stared at Zeke as she opened the gate to the chicken coop. “What? No, chickens are different. They have feathers.”

“Jesus talks a lot about sheep in the Bible,” said Zeke. “Do you think Jesus likes sheep more than chickens?”

“I dunno.” Layla sighed. “Hurry, let’s get the chickens in.”

Zeke counted the chickens as they came into the coop. “One, two, three, four, five. Five? That’s not right.” Zeke counted the chickens again. “Still five. One is missing. Where’s Clara?” Zeke peered around the chicken coop.

“Zeke, we’ve got most of them. We’ll find Clara tomorrow.” Layla reached for the latch to shut the door.

“No!” said Zeke. “Jesus goes looking for His lost sheep. He said He was like a farmer who had ninety-nine of them but still went looking for the lost one because he cared about the one that was missing. We need to look for our lost one too.”

“You’re right, Zeke. Let’s start looking.” They looked for Clara in the hay barn, the stables, the willow tree, and the cornfield. No Clara.

“I don’t know where else to look,” Zeke said as he and Layla leaned against the garden fence and swiped at the raindrops that sprinkled their faces. “What if something happens to her?”

“We’ll keep looking until we…shhh, do you hear that?”

“Cluck.” A faint sound came from under the raspberry bushes. Zeke ducked under the fence and peeked around the bushes’ thorny branches.

“Clara! Are you stuck? Don’t worry, I’ll get you out.”

Thorns scraped Zeke’s face and hands as he pulled Clara loose from the raspberries. He took off his jacket and wrapped her up. “Stay in the jacket so you don’t get wet.”

Layla led the way back to the coop. Zeke placed Clara safely in the coop with the other chickens. “In you go, Clara, with the rest of your chicken friends.”

“I’m glad we didn’t stop looking, Zeke. The other five chickens are safe and sound, and now Clara is too.”

Zeke grinned. “I think Jesus likes chickens too.”

–Nicole Monroe

How about you? Do you like chickens or sheep better? Jesus loves you more than chickens or sheep. He calls His people His sheep because He cares for them the way a good farmer takes care of animals. Jesus loves us so much that He will search for those who are lost because He doesn’t want one person to go missing. He cares for you and wants you as part of His family. (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?)

Today's Key Verse: For the Son of Man [Jesus] came to seek and save those who are lost. Luke 19:10 (NLT)

Today's Key Thought: Jesus finds the lost