I was visiting my friend, Fred, at his farm in Iowa when then piglets were weaned. In moving them to the pig pen one of the piglets got crushed and died. “There goes our profit,” said Fred. He explained that running a farm was so expensive that every life and every bushel made the difference between a successful year or a disaster. Jesus must have had something like that in mind in the parable of the lost sheep. What man among you … would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? That is the attitude we must have as missionary disciples — we must tell every single person they are precious in the sight of God.
