Mary Had A Little Lamb....

Mary had a little lamb, his fleece was white as snow, 

and every where that Mary went, that lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day, which was against the rules

 It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school

And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near.

And waited patiently about, til Mary did appear. 

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" 

 the eager children cry. 

 "Why Mary loves the lamb you know,"
the teacher did reply

Indeed, this sweet little nursery rhyme was taken after a true story behind it's writing. But, there is another story of Mary having a little lamb many many years ago. And it is that story we will be talking about for the month of December. 

The birth of this child was foretold in the book of Isaiah. In chapter 7, and verse 14 to be exact. His name would be Jesus and he would grow up to be a lamb. In fact, he would be the Lamb of God., And his birth was told in the gospels of Mathew and Luke. 

But lets go back to that nursery rhyme and make some comparisons for a few moments, shall we?

First, the lamb in the rhyme was an animal. Now that is not to put lambs down at all. In the Old Testament, they had a purpose out side the fact that fed and clothed people. Some of the very best lambs were used for a sacrifice to God, for the forgiveness of sin. It was a requirement of God because his Son, the future Lamb of God, had not come to earth yet.

The Lamb of God came to this earth with a purpose all his own.

His story is well known in the gospels. He was born to a virgin, also named Mary and although  was expected to come to earth as of King, he was born in a barn. His guests attending his birth that night, were the animals that resided there. 

He would grow up as a sinless but a sin sacrifice for the human race. Your sins and mine. And all those that were before and will come after us, until he comes back to take his rightful throne on earth as King. 

In the rhyme, Mary's lamb followed her to school. Why? Because she loved him and he no doubt wanted to be with her.

During his ministry on earth, Jesus had many followers. Many were just curious, but many loved him, and wanted to learn from and be with him.

But just as he told his disciples one day about how a Shepard will go out from his flock to find one lost sheep, our Shepard searches for us. He draws the hearts of man, because he is not willing even one lost soul to be lost.

In the rhyme, the teacher turned him out. Isn't that just like humanity today?  Isn't that just like us at times? We don't want to obey him. We just want to do our own thing. We reject him. We turn him out. Some turn him out forever.

But just as Mary's lamb in the nursery rhyme, Mary's lamb of the bible, the Lamb of God, patiently waits for us to come to him.

Why? Because just as in the nursery rhyme, he loves us and he wants us to love him. He wants to be with us. But that rhyme has an ending. The Lamb of God doesn't. And he is still waiting for us. Everyday he waits for those that have not answered his call on their hearts. He waits patiently because he loves us.


As we go forward in this month that we celebrate his birth, among all the man-made rituals and traditions that we follow, may we first follow the Lamb that came to Mary on that night and grew up to save the world.

December 2, 2019 And she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save the people from their sins.

Thanks for coming today Friends. Until tomorrow, God bless you!