We Are Like Sheep

 

Scripture: Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Devotion:

These words of Isaiah are part of what is known as the servant songs. These are verses whose immediate application in Isaiah’s time is unknown. However, the Christian church has claimed them, or parts of them, as prophecies of Christ’s passion. They certainly seem to fit this application. We, as Christians, marvel at these words written centuries in advance of our Lord’s death, which seem to describe the scene in great detail.

As we approach our text for today, we are reminded that we are not like proud lions or other strong animals. We, in fact, are told that we are like the lowly, and somewhat stupid, sheep who constantly wander from our shepherd. The Spirit was speaking through the prophet to us today. Our society has wandered far from God. We no longer seek to know what God thinks about a controversy; we proudly proclaim to have the answers without consulting God’s word first.

We, as a culture, go our own way without considering God’s ways. We often suffer grave consequences, but we do not learn from our mistakes and repeat them over and over again. A learned man, Gad Saad, has given names to these tendencies, such as “parasitic mind, and " suicidal empathy.” These are fine as a diagnosis, but ignore the cure. The cure is returning to the wisdom of God dispensed in the Holy Scriptures.

Our sins, in this generation, were all accounted for on the cross. How heavy they must have lain on the shoulders of our Messiah. May we repent of our wanderings and return to the wisdom and instruction available to us in the words of scripture. They alone are the cure for our current problems. May we glorify our God by seeking God’s wisdom. We must again learn the lessons taught by Jesus during His sojourn here on earth. Alas, we are and always will be sheep. We will tend to wander far from the God we claim to love. Let us pray for protection in our wanderings.

Prayer:

Lord, hear us when we pray. We confess that we have wandered far and wide from your ways. We ask you to show us how to get back on the path to again seeing your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let us repent of our wanderlust and return to you with our whole hearts and seek to bring glory to your name. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us the right path to you. Amen.