Five and a Half Questions Everyone Must Answer预览

Question 4: What’s your brand?

“Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” Deuteronomy 10:16

Branding, a procedure in which an animal is seared with a red-hot iron, is a common practice among cattle ranchers that has been practiced for centuries. You’ve probably seen it in the movies, but have you ever wondered why it’s done? The brand, which usually bore the mark of the rancher, was used to distinguish one man’s cattle from another’s. It also helped a rancher quickly identify a cow that had been stolen or lost. The brand, in this sense, was a sort of security or alert system to protect the property of the rancher.

Seared on your heart

God’s word tells us that those who belong to him will be marked, while those who belong to the serpent (the identity thief) will also be marked. One of the first marks God used to separate His children was to have males physically circumcise themselves. This ‘set’ them apart from others. God constantly uses a physical application to illustrate or symbolize a spiritual reality. Paul says in Romans 2:29 that it is not so much the physical outward appearance that matters to God, but rather that of the Spirit and heart. This insight is extremely important, it says who we are on the inside is infinitely more important than who we appear to be on the outside.

So, when someone asks the question, ‘What is your brand?’, they are alluding to how you are perceived by other people. Think about it this way - when you leave the room, what do people say about you? Are they right? Does it match up to how you see yourself? Is it how God sees you?

Brands of all sorts have been used, some for good things, while others are used for bad. When confronting the thief, if there was a brand mark on the cow that was in his possession, it revealed that it belonged to another rancher. This evidence would be extremely damaging to the thief, and most likely result in his arrest. Ultimately the cow would be returned to its rightful owner.

Bottom line: The rancher knows his brand and so do those who know him. Do you know yours?