“. . . And these are our children,” we parents proudly say, as we introduce our children to guests in our home. And so right we are, for our children are flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood. They bear our name, resemble us in physical appearance, perhaps even in temperament and disposition. They live with us, eat at the family table, come to us with their problems, look to us for comfort, encouragement, and protection; and expect us to pay their bills. By the law of nature and by the law of the land our children are indeed ours.
One guest in our homes, however, would disagree when we speak of our children. He wouldn’t dispute the fact that our children are ours, but He would add that our children are also His children. This Person, Who daily knocks at the door of our homes and Who ever desires to be our Guest, is our Lord Jesus. He calls our children “My lambs.” What tender love and concern radiate from those two little words, “My lambs”! What comfort for Christian parents to know that Jesus speaks of their children as “My lambs”!
A beautiful picture is brought to mind by those words, “My lambs,” but more—a basic truth is also expressed by them. Our children are the property and possession of Jesus, are they not? Do not we parents joyfully exclaim, “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3) If we are His sheep, then our children are His lambs. We are the parents of our children; Jesus is their Creator. He gave them body and soul, eyes, ears, their reason and all their faculties. He breathed into them the breath of life, and so He has every right to call our children, “My lambs.”
But more! “All we like sheep have gone astray.” (Isaiah 53:6) Our children have followed us, as little lambs follow the sheep. They also have wandered into the dread kingdom of darkness, ruled by Satan. We parents were unable to rescue our children, for we were unable to pay the ransom demanded for their release. What a dreadful future awaited our children; a life in sin, then death, and then the fiery lake of hell. But Jesus came to the rescue. He became for our children, His lambs, “The Lamb of God.” He paid the ransom for our children with His holy, precious blood. Indeed, our children are His children! Jesus can call them “My Lambs,” for He has done for them what we couldn’t ever do for them. He redeemed them.
It follows then, that He has something to say to us about the care of our children that He so rightly calls “My lambs.” What He has to say to us we would consider in this series of articles that we shall call “Shepherd My Lambs.” [A monthly series of that title was written by Paul F. Nolting, and appeared in subsequent issues of the Lutheran Spokesman.]
In this series we are reprinting Spokesman articles by early leaders in the CLC. Pastor James Albrecht is the curator of the series. Rev. Paul F. Nolting (1923-2005) was a leader in the formation of the CLC. He served as pastor at various CLC congregations, notably Sleepy Eye, Minnesota; West Columbia, South Carolina; and Loveland, Colorado. He was a longtime secretary of the CLC. This article is from the Lutheran Spokesman of June 1960. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.
1923-2005
