lost causes

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)

All. Everyone. There isn’t a single person who has not chosen sin and his own way. Like sheep, we wander far from the loving care of the Shepherd. We have turned and gone astray. And like sheep, we are incapable, unwilling even, to find our way back.

Then we read the beautiful phrase “and The Lord”! God has not allowed us to remain lost and broken by sin. Like a good shepherd, he has sent his son to find us and bring us back to him when he “laid on him the iniquity of us all.” He has made a way to bring us back home!

Our lives may seem broken beyond repair. We may be laying critically wounded by wolves (the sin in us and in the world). We may feel we are too far gone. We had our chance back then, but it is too late now. We are a lost cause because we have nothing to offer.

Yet we only find our way back home when we realize we can’t find the way back on our own! When we recognize that we aren’t good and have nothing to offer. Lost causes are the best causes! It’s there that we recognize our need for the good Shepherd, our need for salvation.

If we have been found by God we have so, so much to be thankful for! All of our sin has been laid on his son and we have been brought home. And though, we too had gone astray, we have been brought back, back where we belong.