John 1:29 – The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”.
The Lenten season will soon be upon us. So what does that mean to us as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ? Many of us think that it’s about giving something up until Easter and then, back to the way it was until next Lenten season. Being a Christian and follower of Jesus means way more than that. As Christians, it’s all about the relationship we have with Jesus as our savior. As we mature as Christians, that relationship needs to get closer and closer. Lenten season is a time to reflect what God did sending his Son to be “the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”.
When we became Christians, we were “born again” made new by the Holy Spirit. At that time, we became a temple of God, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. We are now holy or “set apart” from the world we live in. As we mature as Christians, we allow the Holy Spirit to have more control over us. Our relationship with Jesus becomes closer and closer. Our eyes open more to what is around us and we start to see how lost we were without Jesus. We also see how lost the world is and where it is going.
Lenten season is a time to realize that we need to break away from this lost world; stop “eating” from the table of this world and start “eating” from the table of God. Lenten season is a season to realize our bad habits, our blindness to the sin rampant in the world and continue to set ourselves apart from this lost world. Make this Lenten season a real continuing life changing experience. Make this “fasting” from the bad things of this world a permanent change in your life and not just a annual Lenten thing.
God is amazing in how his perfect plan unfolds itself. We all know about the shepherds that went to see the new born King born in Bethlehem. But did you know who exactly these shepherds were that were out in the fields that night when the host of angels announced the birth of our Savior? These were special shepherds that took care of the special unblemished sheep that were used in the sacrifices on Holy days in Jerusalem. What a Holy picture of our savior, when John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Another Holy picture of how God’s plan unfolds itself is the exact time Jesus died on the cross some 2000 years ago. Ever since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and they celebrated the Passover for thousands of years, the Priests prepared the lamb offerings and sacrificed them between the 15th and 16th hours, the day before the Passover sabbath. Guess when Jesus died on that cross?