Perhaps he had thought there were fairer pastures than those which the shepherd had brought him to? Perhaps he thought that the waters in another field were more sparkling than those still ones where the shepherd had so gently led them? Whatever was the reason, one of these sheep wandered away. At first, perhaps, only a little way off just behind a rock, or round the other side of a wood. But the farther off he went, the easier it became to wander away! At length came the dark night, and as the shepherd counted his hundred sheep into the fold, he found one was lost! Lost? The shepherd would not lose his sheep for anything! He left his ninety-nine in the fold, and hurried away into the wilderness to find the one which was lost. Through the darkness of night; through the tangles and the briars; through the deep waters of the rushing stream, on he passed; and as he went, he repeated to himself words which seemed to dwell in his very heart—"until I find it"! On he went, weary and worn, till at last in the silence of the deep night he heard a faint cry! Then the shepherd called, and stood listening for the answer. And again came that faint cry, and the shepherd knew that somewhere near him, in the darkness, his lost sheep was lonely, helpless, and hopeless. Then the shepherd's arms were stretched out to reach him, caught in the briars at the edge of an awful precipice. He leaned down over the abyss and stretched out his hands, and, regardless of the tearing thorns, he grasped his sheep, he disentangled the briars, and lifted it into safety. But the sheep was so weary and faint that he could not walk, so the tender shepherd put him on to his shoulders, and brought him home rejoicing! And then the shepherd called his friends together, saying: "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!" And Jesus, our Good Shepherd, says: "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth!" XVIII. The Door of the Sheep The Lord Jesus calls Himself by many wonderful and tender names in the New Testament. These are some of them. He says, "I am the Bread of Life." He says, "I am the Light of the World." He says, "I am the Good Shepherd." He says, "I am the Door of the Sheep." Perhaps this last name of Jesus is a little difficult for you to understand; but I am told that those who have visited Palestine have seen the shepherd acting as the real door of the sheep! When night comes on, the Eastern shepherd gathers his sheep from the mountains where they have been feeding, and he leads them to a safe place, called the fold, where perhaps, shut in by rocks, or by walls, or by the sides of some steep hill with the broken rocks around as a protection, he brings them to a spot where they may rest without fear.