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Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders
by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who
were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and
not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were
excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had
made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you
belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once
were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the
blood of Christ. For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you
Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of
hostility that used to separate us. By his death he ended the whole system of
Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between
Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups.
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his
death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He has brought this
Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews
who were near. Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father
through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. (Ephesians 2:11-18 NLV). The
beautiful, green hills of New Zealand, a country known for its sheep industry,
are dotted everywhere with white sheep. During the yearly lambing season,
thousands of baby lambs are born. Unfortunately, some lambs die at birth. Many
mother sheep are also lost during lambing season; they die giving birth. In an
attempt to save the orphaned lambs, the shepherds match baby lambs that have
lost their mothers with mother sheep who have lost their lambs. It's not as easy
as it sounds, though, since a mother sheep won't accept a lamb and nurse it
unless it is her own. They use a
very interesting method to induce the ewes to accept the orphaned lambs. The
process is as old as shepherding itself. The mother's own lamb, which has died,
is skinned, and the skin of the dead lamb is draped over the living lamb as it
is placed by the adoptive mother's side. The mother sheep then smells the skin
and accepts the orphaned lamb as her own. From that moment on there is an
unbreakable bond established. |
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