Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Feed My Sheep

Jesus asked Peter a simple question...'do you love me?' And of course Simon Peter said, 'Yes, Lord. You know I love you'. Do you know what Jesus said? 'Feed my sheep'.
Go check it out for yourself as I unpack what I think it says in John 21:12-17.
First you must note that this is the third time Jesus has appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. So they know this is Jesus, the same man who they saw on the cross, the same man who they buried, the same man whose tomb was empty just as he had predicted.
Interestingly enough back in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus told of the Final Judgment. You know, the one about the 'least of these'.
I felt these two portions of scripture really go hand in hand. First Jesus said ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ And then He flat out tells us, 'FEED MY SHEEP'.
This really got me thinking though, how badly have we forgotten His words? How off track have we become as a Body of Christ? Last month I talked about the early church and how unstoppable they were because of the Spirit? Well, I wonder whether or not many are listening anymore. Are we truly feeding His sheep? Are we really doing all that we can to bring about His Kingdom or are we too focused on us to remember?
I urge you all to remember your place as mentioned in Romans 12:1-5. Here's what we're told: 'Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.'
So it comes down to faith. Jesus did use 'oh ye of little faith,' even to the disciples, but I pray that I too might remain faithful to His call...even to the least of these.

1 comment:

Chris said...

Amen Brother - Preach it!

No, seriously - you're on to something!

~C