Ep 31: A Gorilla, a Squirrel, and the Lambs

Speaker1: Hey. Good morning, I'm Daniel Delp, and this is for your Sunday morning drive. The short podcast designed to help put you in a Colossians three two mindset and help prepare your mind for worship on those hectic Sunday mornings. I hope you're having a wonderful day. We're brought to you this morning in partnership with the Ministry League Network of Podcasts. As always, you can find a link to their YouTube channel in the show notes for today's episode, where you can find over 50 quality podcasts to help engage you spiritually. You can also check them out at Ministry League.com or download their app on your favorite device. And if you do enjoy the podcast, I do ask that you give us a share with someone that may also enjoy it. The best way to help us grow is through word of mouth. I do so thank you for making us a part of your Sunday morning routine. Let's get the show on the road. This is episode 31. A gorilla, a squirrel and the lambs. Let's go to church.

Speaker2: Are we there yet?

Speaker1: Have you ever noticed how much we as humans love animals? I think there's a reason why so much of social media and the internet space in general is devoted to them, especially when it comes to any kind of injustice against them. For instance, do you remember 2016 when a gorilla named Harambe in the Cincinnati Zoo was shot because a boy fell into his enclosure and the internet was in an uproar, spawning some fantastic memes but also a cry for justice. Or more recently, in New York, where this October, a squirrel named peanut, who had a huge presence on Instagram and on TikTok, was seized by conservation authorities and euthanized. And again, the internet seems to be out for blood in what many are labeling an example of government overreach, and others are simply labeling as a malicious act. Yes, we love animals, and I'm convinced that it has to do with. Yes, how adorable they can be apart from cats, but also with their innocence. And it reminds me of a story. That story was told to a king, and in doing so, it convicted his heart. A story about an animal? No, not a gorilla or a squirrel, but a lamb. You see, David had committed a great sin in taking Bathsheba as a wife and essentially plotting the murder of her husband. Uriah and the prophet Nathan came to deliver a message of judgment to him. Let's look at Second Samuel chapter 12, verses one through seven. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came and said to him, there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor, and the rich man had a great many flocks and herds.

Speaker1: But the poor man had nothing except one little lamb, which he bought and nourished. And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup, and lie in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him. And now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man's sheep, and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Now David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion. Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. You are the man. You see how the injustice of harming the innocent lamb incited a reaction of rage within David because of the lack of compassion, only for him to realize that he was the one that had transgressed. Look with me, if you would, at another lamb in John chapter one, verse 29. In the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God.

Speaker1: Let's see Isaiah 53 verse seven. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth. Do we realize that we find ourselves in very much the same predicament as King David? The Bible tells us a message, yes, of judgment, because we have caused the death of the lamb, but also that lamb was offered so that we might have forgiveness, that innocent lamb. Are we moved by a sense of justice because of that? The question is, how far are we moved? Are we moved enough to change? Enough to be convicted by our actions? First Peter chapter two, verse 22 says, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. He was innocent. We should love the innocent Lamb of God, our King. Friends, let us live with penitent hearts and faithful lives, knowing he deserves our allegiance. We should be moved by the injustice of that innocent lamb that died for us. And it should cause a reaction, and it should prompt a change in our lives. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. Our discussion questions for this week are how do we show our thanks for the Lamb of God? And how does the fact that he died for us cause us to examine our motives in life?