Sheep gone astray!

ISAIAH 53:6 "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."

I have read this scripture passage many times, but this morning when I read it, something just jumped out at me. I have been thinking about the sermon message that our senior pastor brought forth yesterday about how deeply our God loves us. In my quiet time this morning, I am still reflecting on the awesomeness of the width and depth of the love of Christ.

In Isaiah, we, the sinner, are being compared to a lost sheep. For ALL of us are lost in sin at one point in time in our lives.

ROMANS 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

There is a peculiar sinfulness about every one; all of us are sinful, but each of us have our own sinful nature to tend with. My heart cannot be compared to yours, and yours cannot be compared to someone elses. What is found in my dark heart, may not be found in another. Repentance is not only genuine but it is individual. Nobody else can repent for the sins I have committed. This may leave one feeling lonely, like it is "them against the world".

 "We have turned every one to his own way," is a confession that each of us have sinned in such a way that it is difficult for us to perceive the same in others.

When we confess our wrong doing to God, it is a breaking moment. Oh the times I have knelt at an altar broken before God, weeping and confessing and repenting. When I think about the heaviness that my sinful nature brings upon me, and the sorrow and pain that it must cause my heavenly Father, I meditate upon the last part of this passage in Isaiah...

..."and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

I cannot take the sins of others upon my back, my own sins are heavy enough to carry...but...Jesus Christ bore not only my sins, but every ones sins. Now that is almost unimaginable to me. Think about how heavy laden your own burdens are...now add everyone else's burdens on top of yours - impossible to carry! But that is exactly what Jesus did on Calvary!

Misery was replaced with Mercy!
Sorrow was replaced with restful souls!
The bruising of our hearts was healed by way of a bruised Saviour!

The width and depth of God's love is unimaginable, immeasurable and irreplaceable. Don't take your eyes off of the cross, what was lost is now found in His resurrection!