FLEECE OF THE LAMB
I was shocked to learn one fact about sheep. Here it is: A mother sheep
will not nurse any lamb other than her own, even when her own lamb has died and
there is an orphan who will die if not nursed. Farmers have learned to
cover the orphaned lamb with the fleece of the lamb that died. That way, the
mother with milk receives the orphaned lamb as her own.
When I heard about
this, I thought, “God is like that!” Every human is born with the tendency to
“dis” what God recommends. The serpent in Eden said God couldn’t have meant
what He said about the fruit -- surely He won’t mind, and so our ancestors
ate of it.
Today that same
serpent takes many forms, but still manages to trick us into thinking God couldn’t mean …. surely He won’t mind. After
all, we assure ourselves, God is love, and we are His children! Not…. In fact,
God, who IS in charge, sent Jesus to tell us that we are NOT God’s children,
but His creations.
We are born with the
curse we inherited, an indwelling sin disposition called “self.” It is that
curse Christ came to reverse. His “fleece” is available for every orphaned
lamb, though rarely do we know it. Hungry and dying of thirst, we orphaned
lambs start bleating our heads off. Then and only then, it seems, do we become
willing to come under the Fleece of the Lamb. His “fleece” makes us acceptable
for adoption back into God’s family. We are now, finally and at last, truly
God’s children. Not because of what we’ve done, but simply because, and only
because, we are covered by the Fleece of the Lamb.
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