Chosen and Branded

 

From among millions, nay, billions

The Lord has chosen his sheep,

The sheep that carry his brand

Are the very sheep he seeks.

 

No sheep will come to him

But sheep that are his own

And he will raise them up on the last day

When they appear before his throne.

 

We cannot save a single soul

But we can plant the precious seed

And that word of God will take root

In the hearts of all that believe.

 

These are the chosen ones:

The ones that come to the truth,

The ones that will endure to the end

Will be the ultimate proof.

 

Chosen they were, we are told,

Before the foundations of the earth

The sign the world cannot really see

Is the sign of their new birth.

 

 

The Chief Shepherd knows His sheep

Every one of them carries His brand,

And when the going gets particularly tough

That’s when the tough will stand.

 

There is no failure in the Holy Spirit

That indwells the chosen sheep,

It is for these the Shepherd lay down his life

It is for these he constantly seeks.

 

We know not the chosen sheep

There are no distinguishing marks,

But go tell the message of God’s salvation:

To this command we must hark.

 

 

We are to plant and we must water

But the increase is of the Master’s hand,

He alone knows his chosen ones

He alone can see his brand.

 

The Gospel message is available to all

But not all hearers will believe,

It is only them that believe in Jesus Christ

They are the ones that receive.

 

Salvation is not dependent on ancestry

Neither is it tied to genealogy,

It is not about a colour or race

Not even the Jewish ethnicity.

 

 

It is about them that have been chosen

That bear the brand of the Lord,

Chosen before the earth’s foundation

As stated in the Holy Word.

 

It is not a mark on the forehead

Or a sign engraved on a recipient’s hand,

It is the blood of Jesus Christ applied

To the heart of a child, a woman or man.

 

Yes, the blood of Jesus is the brand

With which he marked his sheep,

And he responds whenever they call

For he distinguishes their bleat.

 

 

Chosen and branded, that’s us!

Whether we be Jew or Gentile,

Not by ethnicity or religious denomination

But by Jesus we have been reconciled.

 

Chinese, Japanese, Arab or Jew

Afro-American, Indo-/Afro-Caribbean too,

It doesn’t matter once they are in Christ

Chosen and branded: that’s me, that’s you.

 

Stewart Russell © September 29, 2020