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Topic: Where Are Shepherds?
[DCLM Daily Manna 22 June 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Matthew 9:27-38 (KJV)
Key Verse: “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
MESSAGE:
As at March 2018, the world’s population was estimated to be approximately 7.6 billion. About 2.91 billion of them live in places where they have little or no access to the gospel. According to a research project, there are approximately 16,500 unique people groups in the world with about 6,900 of them considered unreached. The vast majority (95%) of these least reached groups exist in the 10/40 window and less than 10% of missionary work is done among these people. One missionary-minded group called Finishing the Task, said there are 440 unengaged, unreached people groups with populations over 25,000, together numbering over 24 million souls that are still beyond the reach of the gospel. These 440 are perhaps the neediest of the needy as they are unengaged which means that they have had no contact with church, missionaries, or mission agencies. Thus, no one has yet taken responsibility to tell them about Jesus Christ.
The summary of Christ’s earthly ministry is that, “He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:3). Despite all He did, He never considered the multitude of people that came to him for help as mere statistics. His shepherd heart was always moved to see so many as sheep without a shepherd!
What people see in the multitude determines how they react to them or treat them. A look through a popular busy city will show a sea of heads and humanity in different shapes, sizes and gender. But the human soul is beyond statistics to God. And it should also be to those who are God’s. If we have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, we must, like Him, seek to have a shepherd’s heart and compassion on the many who live around us daily without the knowledge of the true God and stand the chance of spending eternity in the wrong place. We must, in utmost compassion, reach out to them before it is too late.
Thought For The Day: It is virtuous to be a shepherd to wandering souls.
The Bible In One Year: 1 Kings 5–7
