Man, that was a long way to go to work in a "I ain’t got time to bleed" set up into a devotional, but there it is. So keep that reference and jump back in time to John 21 where Jesus and Peter are on the seashore after the resurrection. Jesus says to Peter "If you love me, feed my sheep." But what if Peter said, "I ain’t got time to feed"? Yeah I know, that was an even longer way to go for a cheesy pay-off, but work with me here. What if Peter had decided that there were plenty of other guys that had followed Jesus around…and they were all capable of spreading the Gospel to the world. I mean, after all, who was Peter to go around telling anyone about Jesus anyway? This is the guy that’s just on the heels of denying that he even knew Jesus. What kind of credibility would he have? "Hey, everyone! Jesus is God’s Son, and forgives sins, and offers grace and love to the world! Accept Him as your savior today! Come and be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost and you shall have forgiveness of sins!" Ummm, aren’t you the dude that just denied that you knew Him three times that night at the trial? "errr, yeah, that was me." So why is it that Jesus is so great again…so great and powerful that you denied even knowing Him? "Well, it’s a little tricky, you see…" Because after following Jesus around for three years – EVEN WALKING ON WATER – Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was on the night of the trial. That might give him some critics when he goes out preaching.
So given that all that had happened, and that conversation I just made up was a real possibility, what if Peter had said, "look, Jesus, I appreciate the vote of confidence and all, but really…I have these other plans, and that guy over there – your boy, John – he’s a good guy, and he can tell everyone about you just like you want me to. And I have these other plans now…And I plan to help in my local church and be real involved there, and I’ll be a really good Christian example, but I don’t want to encroach on other people and their time to teach them about you…I just ain’t got time to feed."
"If you love me, feed my sheep." It’s not a suggestion. It wasn’t a suggestion when Jesus said it to Peter…it wasn’t a "Peter, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind mentioning my name a couple of times in conversation? Maybe mention ‘I was talking to a guy at church…’ so people know you go to church, and maybe act like a Christian sometimes?" Nope – none of that at all. Not even a "Peter, don’t get in the way while those other guys spread the gospel." Nope. It was plain and simple: "If you love me, feed my sheep." You. Not someone else. Not a billboard pointing them to some verses or some church who can feed them. You. Feed my sheep. So why are we so timid? Why are we so insistent that someone else is better suited to share Jesus with other people? Why is it that when we’re the only believer in a circle of 5 or 6 friends, that we waste the chance to share Jesus with them? You’re there! Don’t let them wander off! Feed the Sheep! If you call yourself a Christian, your FIRST responsibility is what? Love Jesus. And what will do if you love Jesus? "If you love me, feed my sheep." So feed the Sheep! Don’t pass the buck to someone else or just ignore the fact that you’re supposed to do it.
When Jesus most needed a friend, and even after He called Peter’s denial shot before it happened, Peter denied Him anyway. But when all was said and done, what did Jesus tell Peter? "If you love me, feed my sheep." And what did Peter do? He fed the sheep. We see several instances in Acts of the apostles being told to shut up and quit feeding the sheep the bread of life. In Acts 4 Peter and John are threatened by the Sanhedrin that if they don’t stop, they going to get it. Then again in Acts 5 "if you don’t quit, you’re going to get it!" Acts 7? They stoned Stephen. Oh, and in Chapter 12? They killed James (the brother of John). I think they were getting serious about the whole "quit telling people about Jesus" threat. And so the apostles quit, right? Nope. Spread out and preached the gospel to even more people. And when it was all said and done, the threats of "shut up or you’ll get it" turned out to be very true. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says that he received 39 lashes 5 times – we don’t know the final tally before he was finally killed in Rome.
Jesus said, "If you love me, feed my sheep." The Pharisees and Sadducees said "shut up or else". Church tradition says that Matthew was killed as a martyr by the sword in Ethiopia. And that they hanged Luke in Greece. Bartholomew was whipped to death. Paul’s missionary buddy, Barnabus? Stoned to death. Matthias that replaced Judas Iscariot? Stoned and beheaded. Mark was dragged to death by horses in Egypt. Peter was crucified upside down. The only one that died a natural death it seems, was John. Turns out that the "or else" was a VERY real threat. "If you love me, feed my sheep." The apostles said, "Go ahead and kill me if you want. I love Him, so I’m going to feed the sheep."
Listen for the Whisper that tells you that if you have Jesus and you have a Bible, you have all you need. We’re lucky in America. Nobody is holding a sword or a stone telling us "shut up or else". There’s certainly a segment that’s telling Christians to shut up, and in some circles, you might be a social outcast if people start thinking you’re a "Jesus Freak" – but somewhere I can hear Peter saying, "I wish people talking about me was the only thing I had to worry about." So if you have a chance to feed the sheep, why are propping your feet up and waiting on someone else to do it? Or expecting Jesus to just rain down on them like manna just by accident? John 3:16 says God loved you so much that Jesus was sent to die for you. And what did Jesus say after being beaten and then hung on a cross and crucified for you? "If you love me, feed my sheep."
So why aren’t you feeding the sheep?
~Dwayne
ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net
http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com
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