He
said to him the third time, “Simon, son
of
John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved
because
he said to him the third time, “Do
you
love me?” and he said to him, “Lord,
you
know everything; you know that I love
you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep…”
John 21:17 ESV
Peter has denied Jesus three times. Now, on
this resurrection appearance to His disciples, Jesus questions Peter three
times regarding how much he truly loves Him. Peter responds with I love You, I
love You, Lord You know everything so You know I love You.
Jesus explains how Peter should show his
love; feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Mark 12:30-31 sums up how we, like Peter,
are required to walk as a follower of Christ:
“And you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength...You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There
is no other commandment greater than these.”
Yesterday, our pastor taught us about
investing in others. The formula is simple; love God, love people and walk in freedom.
Everything we do for the Lord hinges on these two great commandments. There is
freedom in following Christ in loving obedience.
The Word of God is our spiritual food. As
we partake in the study of His Word, Jesus can bless it and break it and feed
the hungry soul. The more we delve into the depths of the Word the more we
begin to love God. Loving people then becomes a natural desire; an overflow of
our love for the Father.
The more we know God the more we become
like Him. The way we know God is through hearing the preached Word and personal
Bible study. Only then will my life, and yours, reflect the Father. As we
encourage each other in the LORD and invest our lives in
reaching others for Christ we must seek opportunities through intentional
living to obey the command to “feed my sheep.”
©JP
2013
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