A few years ago, my wife and I drove around to check out some yard sales in our town where people put out their unneeded things for other people to buy. We went from sale to sale, not finding much, until we made our way to one final house.
We usually end up in long conversations with the people who are selling and so this day was no different. We ended up at a person’s sale who had recently lost her husband. She shared with us the details and then told us most of the stuff she was selling was his. We talked as we walked around and I noticed she had some golf equipment. When I saw the price on it, it was clear she hadn’t marked the price giving any consideration to its value.
I told her she could get ten times as much as she was asking, these were expensive golf clubs. She asked me if I wanted them, and I told her I would feel guilty taking them knowing how valuable they were.
She responded that she wasn’t concerned with making money from the sale but was hoping to bless people. She told me, “if you don’t buy it for that price, somebody else will and most likely, if you come back later, it will be gone. So, you might as well get it before it’s gone.”
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 KJV).
John saw Jesus walking towards him that day, knowing all too well Jesus’ worth. He got it. Ironically, he wouldn’t have had any way of knowing at that point how true his words were. He was inspired to write (and say) Jesus was God’s lamb but couldn’t have possibly known that in true Old Testament requirement, this Lamb too would have to be slain, sacrificed, and whose blood would be shed for the remission of the sins of the world. Jesus himself would later give clues about this but hadn’t yet.
John’s words to those around him, as he proclaimed it, is often taken as some sort of phrase honoring Jesus. But it was more to those around him, it’s Jesus, the Lamb of God, take hold of Him, receive Him, accept him, hold on to Him… He is God’s Lamb, given for you and for me.
I meditated on these words just a few short days ago in Lujan, Argentina, where I spoke to hundreds of unbelievers in a soccer stadium. There it was the Gospel had been shared, I’ve made it as clear to understand as I could. The Lamb of God has been given to you… get it before it’s gone… get it before it’s too late.
Perhaps like John you too need to take this opportunity, this season, to proclaim boldly the message of the Lamb.
Dr. Ronald J. Barnes, Jr.
President/CEO
December 20,2021
