THE MARKED LAMB
And a Happy St. Paddy’s Day to you all this fine sunny morning. After finishing baking two loaves of Irish soda bread, I can now enjoy listening to my Irish music while reminiscing about our trip to Ireland last year. As we traveled on a train from Belfast to Dublin we were mesmerized by the lush, green, rolling hills and all the sheep on them. But, curiously, we noticed that many of the sheep had different colors spray painted on their backs. Some were green, some were orange, and some were even red. Wether it’s a fable or the truth, we were told that those marked with green were the Catholic sheep and the orange were the Protestant sheep. It became a little confusing though when all the colors would be in the same flock, including some sheep that had multiple colors on their backs! But, one thing was for sure. The chief herdsman knew his sheep because he had personally marked them. They were under his protection, behind the stoned walls. The sheep felt safe knowing he was there. Occasionally, a sheep would escape to another field. The little lamb would be in the midst of those that were not his family and he would start crying out to the Shepard. Wether it was daylight or nighttime, the Shepard would go out looking for him. When he would find the wee lamb he would pick it up and carry it over his shoulders so that he would know he was safe. As Easter approaches I am reminded that Jesus also was marked…marked by His Father. As the Bible shares, “ by His stripes we were saved”. His color was red for He would be the last lamb to be marked as our forever sacrifice for sin. For some of us who, though we may be a Christian, have lost our way. We find ourselves in the midst of those who aren’t our family. Some of us are just…lost… for a lot of reasons. But just like the little wee lamb who cried out to the Shepard, He WILL find you, bring you back home on His shoulders because you have been marked…you are His and His alone. It’s a great day to be an Irish woman but an even better day to know I have been marked by my Father who loves me and one day I will be home with Him forever. Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone!