Devotionals

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The Lamb

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
Isaiah 53:6-7 NKJV

"Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world!…”
John 1:29 MSG

"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father."
John 10:14-18 MSG

The Bible uses lambs and sheep in two ways.

In Exodus, God told Moses and the Children of Israel to kill sinless, innocent lambs (1 per household) and apply the lambs’ blood to the top and sides of the doorway of each house so that the Angel of Death would pass over the homes of the Israelites when He came to take the lives of the firstborn sons and animals of the Egyptian slave masters. The purpose of this was to finally convince Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt for the Promised Land. It was also a foreshadowing of Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus, as “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world” (see John 1:29 NKJV), shed His sinless, innocent blood to force Satan, the ruler of this world, to release us from slavery to sin and death.

The prophet Isaiah and our Lord Jesus spoke of people (you and me) as sheep. Sheep are essentially brainless animals, who when left to themselves generally do nothing but wander into danger and are easy prey for wolves and other predators. Not very flattering, but nonetheless true. Sheep have no natural defenses, they don’t run very fast, and they are, well, stupid. Without Jesus as Lord of our lives, you and I are lost sheep, we stand alone in an open field as prey to every lie and scheme of Satan and his forces, or we wander blindly along a slippery hillside just inches from falling over the edge.

But there is one thing that sheep do, and it keeps them alive from one day to the next: they can recognize their master’s voice, and they will follow only him. When we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we can learn to hear Him and only Him. When we know the Word of God, when we fix our hearts and minds on Jesus’ words and commandments, when we trust Him to lead us and we stop trying to figure out life on our own, we no longer fall prey to Satan’s lies. (See John 10.) For example, when I finally realized how much God loves me, it became much easier to love others unconditionally, regardless of how they had treated me. If you fix it in your heart to believe that Jesus’ death on the cross cancelled all of your sins – past, present and future – you will find that guilt from past sins no longer controls you, and sins you commit today or in the future will no longer condemn you.

The Lamb and sheep. The Man Jesus and us. Jesus as Lamb and Shepherd. Jesus as God and Man. It’s a lot for a brainless sheep like me to comprehend. That’s why I simply allow my heart to accept it. Suddenly, being a sheep isn’t so bad, after all.

Today’s Seed of Faith:
Father, I thank You for the blood of Jesus. Thank You for His sacrifice made for me for no other reason than that You love me. As a Good Shepherd, Jesus willingly gave His life to save me from Satan’s traps and my own foolishness, and I accept that gift with the greatest joy! Father, I put all of my faith in Your love for me and Your forgiveness of my sins. Jesus, I give You my life and my devotion forever. I am your sheep, and I place my faith in Your promise to lead me all the way home.

** Adapted from the author's website at http://www.seedwords.com/pages.asp?pageid=84423

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