Lamb Or Wolf?

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” John 1:36

There is a Cherokee parable about two wolves living inside each of us. One wolf represents our better selves, our better nature, while the other wolf represents the worst in us. The story goes that the wolf you feed the most is the one that will grow stronger in you, so feed the good wolf and not the bad one.

Yet for the Christian we are to have no wolf inside of us. We are instead to rely upon the Lamb of God who dwells in every believer. We don’t need to “feed Him”, we simply need to allow Him to live through us and be Jesus in our lives.

Sadly, too often I allow a wolf to enter into the sheepfold of my life. Instead of following the lead of the lamb, I listen to the growling of the wolf and growl right along with him. It is a foolish thing to allow a wolf to reside in the sheep pen. Yet how many times do we react to adversity with the actions of the wolf rather than the lamb?

Selfishness, Anger, doubt, impatience, bitterness, strife, when we allow the wolf to run our lives it ruins our reputation as Christians and it chokes out any good fruit we might produce as God’s children. When someone cuts us off in traffic, or jumps in line ahead of us, or insults us, or treats us or one of our family members badly, that wolf too often rears his ugly head and bares his fangs.

When afflictions strike us we find ourselves howling with the wolf rather than holding on to our Lord with faith. Human nature follows the way of the wolf. It takes the power of The Holy Spirit to lead us in the way of the Lamb.

Allowing Jesus to be Jesus within us is much harder than it sounds. When singing in church, or quietly reading a favorite Bible verse, or sitting outdoors on a lovely picture perfect day–it is so easy to allow the Lamb to shine through us. But let adversity strike, enemies rise up against us or our loved ones, and it is hard to hear the voice of our Lord from the angry clamor around and within us. Reacting in a godly way is only possible by holding fast to the Lamb living within us through His Holy Spirit.

Life ain’t easy. We often have more stormy days than beautiful sunny ones. Life can throw obstacles at us we could never have imagined. And it feels almost natural to “let the wolf in”. But if our life is instead filled with Jesus there will be no room for wolves. We need to walk and talk with Jesus every day and not just look Him up when the storm arrives. If you are anchored to Jesus the storm will not drive you away when the flood comes. And the flood will come. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will arrive when least expected. At that time if your life is filled with The Lamb of God, you can not only face the trial, but come out the other side fully vindicated by trusting in Jesus through it all.

Prayer: Dear Lord, The wolf seems to be constantly howling. Troubles come at us from every side. Give us the power and strength to hold fast to You, The Lamb of God, who lives within every believer. Amen.