Matthew 18:12–14 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go and search for the one that is straying? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine who have not gone astray. Thus, it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones perish.” Have you ever saw a penny on the ground and stopped to pick it up? Maybe you remember the saying “see a penny pick it up and all day long you have good luck” or maybe the one about loved ones in heaven throw pennies down to make “a smile out of your frown”? The scripture says in Matthew that a shepherd would leave the ninety-nine to go and find the one who went astray. He rejoices over it more than the ninety-nine. I thought of the times I’ve picked up a penny on the ground and would smile. It’s just a penny. The lowest denomination in our currency system. I would think about how many had passed the penny by leaving it lay. God’s word says the shepherd would leave the ninety-nine to save the one who goes astray more than the ones who have not gone astray. I think of all the scriptures God has shown me over these past few months about the churches not noticing when a member struggles in their walk with Christ. The empty pew where so and so always sat. The missed day from church. Do we just pass by the important message in Hebrews 12:12 “Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.” There may be someone waiting to be picked up, to come back into the Shepherd’s care. “He rejoices over it more than the ninety-nine who have not gone astray.”