Footsteps of a Traitor

Isaiah 40:11
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.



Lambs do not have to be gathered in the arms of the shepherd and carried in his bosom because they can’t walk. They have to be carried because they can walk. A person might carry a lamb for the same reason a person might carry an eighteen month old. You spend a lot less time and energy chasing them around if you carry them; not to mention, it is usually safer for them.

I have a bookmark that has the little “Footprints” poem on it. You know, the one where the person looks back on their life and they see two sets of footprints and where they saw one set it was where the Lord carried them. It is a comforting thought that at the hard times in life, Jesus will carry us. The other day I looked at that bookmark and realized that if I had a chance to look back on my life in that way, to see the footprints - it would go more like this: I would see one set most of the time and at the places I saw two sets, one would be going the opposite direction. At any time Jesus isn’t carrying me, I run off after something “interesting” or so I think. Like the eighteen month old, I don’t have a lot of thought about it, I just find myself wandering off.

It’s a little cute in the context of a lamb or an eighteen month old but I know it is absolute treason. I am glad to know I have a traitor’s heart. If it were not for God’s sustaining grace and loving care and patience and incredible mercy; I would betray Him in less than a minute. Now that might not sound like a good thing to know but every time I am truly able to see it I weep tears of joy. It makes me hold onto Jesus and be happy He is carrying me in His bosom. I want to get home and it will go far better if Jesus carries me. I won’t have to spend wasted time bumping into things, falling down and being retrieved again and again.

Lambs grow up to be sheep and eighteen months old grow to be adults; both whom are perfectly capable of walking on their own without wandering off. One would think that when we mature in Christ we could be taught to walk beside Him to work with Him. One might think that straying away is only a temporary problem that is cured with spiritual age. Sure, that must be why we have so much unity and love and effective working in the church. Yes, that is a sarcastic remark. Growing up in the Lord is not as it is to grow up in the world. As with all things heavenly and worldly; they are opposites. Growing up in the Lord has to do with resting more happily and knowing more surely that we cannot walk on our own but must be carried. The cooperation we give God is our understanding and submission to this truth: without Jesus we can do nothing. Worse than that – we can do everything evil; nothing good. I hope when I am a hundred years old in the Lord I will understand that my old nature has not grown a bit and that if ever I look back on my footprints I will see only one set. Carry me Jesus, all the way home.