Recently my neighborhood walk took me to a particular street and as I rounded the corner and looked at the cars parked in a driveway, one car’s back windshield said in big bold letters: LIONS NOT SHEEP.
These three words can be taken a number of different ways, but I was struck by the inference that in our present day, Christians need to be more like lions than sheep. I am not discounting in any way what the Bible says about us needing a Shepherd and how we will know HIS voice.
JOHN 10: 11 “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. THE GOOD SHEPHERD SACRIFICES HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.”
Jesus died for us, for our sins. We need HIM. HE is the good Shepherd of us all for now and forevermore. Of course the best known scripture is this one:
PSALM 23: 1-2 “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT. HE MAKES ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES; HE LEADS ME BESIDE QUIET WATERS.”
In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis tells a story about Narnia and 4 children who at one point are saved by a Lion named Aslan. Lewis’s fictional novel reflects biblical ideas from Christianity and it is one of his best known books. Aslan is a true picture of JESUS HIMSELF in the story because HE is good and self-sacrificing. This Lion is compassionate and regal and of great dignity. If you get a chance it is a wonderful read even though it was written for children.
JESUS IS OUR SHEPHERD……… HE PROTECTS AND FIGHTS FOR US LIKE A LION.
Just knowing that JESUS leads us and protects us and is always working for us for our good, should convict us and encourage us in our faith walks. HE loves us and provides like a SHEPHERD does for HIS sheep. But HE is all powerful and mighty like a lion willing to fight the battles we have no control over.
JOHN 10: 14-15 “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD; I KNOW MY SHEEP AND MY SHEEP KNOW ME – JUST AS THE FATHER KNOWS ME AND I KNOW THE FATHER – AND I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.”
Just as JESUS lays down HIS life for us, we should lay down our lives for HIM. To know HIM is to follow HIM! And to know HIM is having a heart’s desire to spread the GOOD NEWS in HIS name. In order to do this we have to become bold in our faith and more like lions to protect the truth.
OUR FAITH NEEDS TO BE LIKE A LION, STRONG AND MATURE.
JESUS is known always as a LION and a LAMB. Both symbolize HIS power and authority and HIS submission to GOD’S will. We can draw from this and learn from JESUS’S example. Let our submission be to HIS authority, and let our message be powerful with HIS truth.
Sometimes we feel weak…….then HE is strong. And sometimes we feel bold, because HE holds us in HIS strong capable hands. HE knows our future and HE is always working for our good. Let our faith be as bold as it can be, as strong as a lion, but yet gentle as a lamb.
JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE…….HE was the sacrificial lamb who died for our sins. Let’s follow HIS voice, because it is the only truth that exists, not the world’s truth, but HIS. HE will always lead us like a SHEPHERD, but will always love, nurture, protect and fight for us like the LION that HE is!
JESUS IS OUR SHEPHERD, our capable guide all through this life and finally, JESUS IS OUR LION, willing to fight our battles, those that are seen and those we cannot see. HE is all powerful, all loving and all grace. HE IS the LION of JUDAH who has triumphed over all the world!
REVELATION 5: 5 “DO NOT WEEP! SEE, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ROOT OF DAVID, HAS TRIUMPHED.”
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