Psalm 118, Isa. 66:7-14; 1 John 3:4-10; John 10:7-16
The prophet sees that the deliverance of God for His people can come in an instant. The mother will give birth before anyone expects it, a time not anticipated. Such was the birth of Jesus. After a long prophetic silence, into the void comes one who was not expected and not in the way anyone anticipated. He suddenly appeared on the scene and no one knew what to do with Him or about Him. What would it look like for God to come again and stand astride His creation in bringing about the end of days? It will come as a shock to the system and the new Jerusalem will be here and everything will change.
Jesus makes a clear statement of who He is. The good shepherd, from the 23rd Psalm to Zechariah and Ezekiel’s prophetic visions, is always the Lord Himself come to shepherd His people. When Jesus says He is the good shepherd it is to paint the contrast between Him and the other leaders of the people, the ones whom God promised He would replace when He delivers His people. That Jesus has other sheep not of this flock is to say us, the Gentiles, the non-Jews who will be brought into the sheep fold and become part of the one flock of the Great Shepherd. He has rescued us and brought us to Himself so that we might know the comfort of the shepherd of the Psalm.
What does it mean to practice sin and practice righteousness? Does it mean that we are to be without sin or does it mean something else? It seems clear that we continue to sin and we continue to need forgiveness and yet as Christians we are to practice righteousness. In life we need to practice righteousness, replacing the bad habits with godly habits. We need to seek the kingdom with all our hearts, love God with everything we have and are and love our neighbors as ourselves. If we do these things and set them as our highest aim, we will indeed begin to see that sin has little place in our lives. We will never fully eradicate it in our lives and yet the best remedy for sin is keeping our lives fixed on the kingdom. Idle hands are indeed the devil’s workshop.
Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense,
and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name
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