The sheep-fold was very quiet, which was unusual! Generally the lambs would be laughing and telling their friends what they had been doing, and what they had seen that day in the wilderness. Some of them pretended to be very brave, and would boast to the timid ones.
'I saw a Bear today' they would say. 'He was huge, with great big claws, but I showed him I wasn't afraid. I just stood there and said 'Catch me if you can' then I laughed, and ran away from him.'
The shy ones would look at the brave one, and their eyes would open wide in admiration - 'How brave you are' they would say. Others would look at the one who was boasting and say - 'You never saw a Bear, nor a Lion yesterday! It's all just a story, you would have been scared stiff!' And they would laugh. But today it was different. no-one was boasting, and their Mums were only talking in whispers. There was a feeling of sadness in the fold, and no-one felt like laughing.
Little Tabitha had been asleep, and now, as she stretched herself and yawned, she noticed how quiet everyone was. She was puzzled! ‘What is the matter with everyone? she asked in a high piping voice. 'Ssh!' said her brother James. 'Don't talk so loudly!' 'Well, what is the matter?' she asked again, this time much more quietly. 'Ben is lost' her brother told her.
'Bouncy Ben?' Tabitha asked in amazement, using Ben's nickname as he was always leaping and bouncing about. Tabitha felt very upset. Everyone loved Ben, he was always so happy and cheerful. 'How did that happen?' she asked James.'We don't know.He was playing with us for a long time, then when it was time to go home - he just wasn't there!'
'Did you look for him?' Tabitha asked him rather sternly.
'Well .....no....we just thought he had gone back to his Mum and his brother Mark.'
'Then when did you find out that Ben was lost?' was Tabitha's next question.
'When our Shepherd counted us. You know there are 1OO of us, but when he counted, there were only 99'
'What did our Shepherd do when he found that one was missing?'
'He counted us again to make sure. Then he said ";It's Ben. Ben is missing. I shall have to go back and look for him.";'
'Oh, how kind' said Tabitha. 'He must have been very tired. Did he really go back into the wilderness again?'
'Yes, he did' said James. 'You know how caring he is, and how much he loves us, and knows all our names. The other Shepherds tried to persuade him not to go - but he still went.'
'What did the other Shepherds say?' Tabitha wanted to know.
'Well, one of them said - ";You have 99 safely in the fold, why bother with the 1OOth?'’ 'Another one said - ";You know how dangerous it is out there, especially in the dark. You could meet a Lion or a Bear. One lamb just isn't worth the risk.";
'What did our Shepherd say then?' Tabitha was eager to know.
James smiled. 'He said - ";He is worth it to me, it's my Ben out there, and he'll be lonely, and cold, and frightened, and he needs me. I'm going to find him."; 'And he left.'
'Has he been gone long?' Tabitha asked.
'Yes, he has been searching for hours, and we are so worried about both of them.'
Tabitha nodded. She understood. Ben was a great favourite with them all, and everyone loved their Shepherd.
Just then a great shout was heard. It seemed that all the sheep were bleating with excitement.
'What is it? What is it?' asked Tabitha hopping up and down. James, being taller, could see further, and then he, too, joined in the shouting. 'Ben is found. Ben is found' he shouted. And when Tabitha looked, she saw their Shepherd, and on his shoulders - was Ben! A very cold and tired Ben, but he wasn't frightened any more. In fact he was smiling because he knew he was safe again, safe in the arms of his beloved Shepherd. The Shepherd smiled tenderly as he carefully placed Ben beside his mother.
And then the questions started! In fact it seemed to Ben that everyone wanted to know what had happened.
'Where have you been?'
'How did you get lost?'
'Why did you leave the others?'
Ben looked at his Mum. 'I'm sorry, Mum. I know I should not have wandered away. You have told me not to, many times, but I thought I would just see what was over the cliff.'
A shocked 'OH!' was heard from the others. They all knew how dangerous that was!
'I just peeped over' Ben continued. 'And then my foot slipped' and he began to cry. His mother hugged him. 'You are safe now' she said. 'But you really were very naughty to do this.'
'I know' Ben sobbed. 'I will never do it again. I was so scared and hurt - see, I am all bruised.' They all looked. Yes, Ben had certainly hurt himself when he fell over the cliff. 'But then our Shepherd came' said Ben brightening up. 'And He climbed down and rescued me.'
Ben was quiet for a while, then in a very quiet voice he said - 'Our Shepherd was hurt too. Just look' and he pointed to where their Shepherd was talking to the others.
'You shouldn't have gone' they were saying as they saw how very weary He looked.
His face was bleeding where the thorns had scratched Him.
He had lost His shoes when He climbed down the cliff, and His feet were torn and hurt.
His robe was ripped, and He held His side - as if it were sore. ‘His hands, oh! look at His hands’ whispered little Tabitha, and they all looked at the deep cuts in His hands, almost as if they had been caught on a nail. The lambs wept.
It had cost the Shepherd much pain to find His lamb and return him to the fold. But the Shepherd looked lovingly at Ben, and His eyes were full of love as He gazed at His flock.

'You say I am the ";Good Shepherd"; he said to the other shepherds.

";That is exactly what I want to be to each one of my flock.
Because, you see, to me each one of them is precious.";
Elizabeth Aynsley ©

Matthew CH.18 Vs. 12 to 14.