The Lost Sheep

I read the following poem in a book I am reading right now on parenting. I thought it was very thought provoking.

It was a sheep--not a lamb, that strayed
In the parable Jesus told:
A grown-up sheep that had gone away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.

Out in the meadows out in the cold,
'Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought:
Back to the flock, and into the fold,
'Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd brought.

And why, for the sheep, should we earnestly long,
And so earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger, if they go wrong;
They will lead the young lambs astray.

For the lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray
If the sheep go wrong, it will not be long
'Til the lambs are as wrong as they.

So, with the sheep we earnestly plead,
For the sake of the lambs today:
If the lambs are lost, what a terrible cost
Some sheep may have to pay.

--Author unknown