"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way ..." the Bible says. All of us are, by nature, like lost and wandering sheep who have turned away from our true Shepherd and Maker. We have each turned aside to go our own way.
What an accurate description of mankind! Instead of following the LORD God and living in accord with His perfect will and design for us, we follow our own will and desire, go our own way and direction and rebel against God and His Word. Instead of loving God and living for Him, we love ourselves and do as we please. Instead of listening to God's commandments and obeying them, we shut our ears, justify our sins and seek to establish our own compromising values in the place of His absolute truth.
Lost, wandering and scattered sheep, each one going in a different direction, are a picture of our world, with people wandering here and there and looking for life, happiness and fulfillment in everything but the LORD God who created them.
But the Bible also tells us: "... And the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." God took all our sins and all our guilt and punished them in the innocent sufferings and death of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ! Our sins and iniquities were placed upon Jesus and He was punished in our stead.
That is why darkness covered the earth as Jesus hung there on the cross. And that is why Jesus cried out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which is to say, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46).
Though Jesus died an agonizing and horrible death on the cross because of our turning away from God and sinning against Him, the beauty in this is that all of our sins and all of our guilt have been punished in Christ Jesus. "It is finished," Jesus cried (John 19:30). The debt of our sins is paid in full! And Jesus rose in triumph on the third day!
Therefore, through repentance and faith in Jesus, our Messiah and Savior, we can have forgiveness and life everlasting! Instead of being judged and condemned for our own sins, God judged and condemned His own holy and innocent Son and He offers and gives to us, through faith in Christ, pardon and peace with Him. What could be more beautiful to the lost and condemned sinner!
Because Jesus suffered our just punishment, paid in full for our sins and the sins of the whole world and then rose again in victory, the gates of heaven have been opened to us. Through faith in Jesus, we can have the assurance that on the day we die, we shall go to be with Him in paradise (cf. Luke 23:43)!
Dearest Jesus, we have, like lost sheep, turned and gone our own way. We have sinned against You. Thank You for bearing on the cross the just punishment for our sins and iniquities. Grant to us forgiveness and life with You in Your eternal kingdom through faith in Your name. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible. Devotion is by Randy Moll. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. More of Moll's devotional writings may be freely read at https://goodshepherdonline.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.]