Feed My Sheep

The third time Jesus said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?"  He said, "Lord you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." -John 21:17

Throughout the Bible, Jesus is depicted as a shepherd.  But more than that, THE shepherd.  Jesus Christ is our shepherd and we are His sheep.  In Psalm 23 it tells us that our shepherd will lead us beside quiet waters, restore our soul, guide us, comfort us, and in Him we will lack nothing.  Our shepherd is a good shepherd. 

As his followers, what does he require of us?  To simply feed His sheep.  It has taken me a long time to figure out what exactly this means and John 21:17 came to me at the perfect time this summer.  For those of you who don't know, I am a camp counselor at a Christian camp in Colorado this summer.  God showed me this verse one morning at the exact time I needed it.  We had a cabin full of brokenness and all I wanted to do was fix it.  I wanted to heal their brokenness and make sure that they knew how much the God of heaven and earth loved them more than they could every fully comprehend.  But the fact of the matter is that I am only human.  I am completely inadequate on my own and there is only so much difference I can make in this world on my own.  The wonderful thing about being a follower of Jesus Christ is that I have the Spirit of God living within me and He makes up for my inadequacy.  What God taught me one morning as I was facing Twin Sisters on the porch of the lodge at camp, is that on my own I can do nothing but with Christ I can do all things.  All He requires of us is that we feed His sheep.  He does the rest.  He leads them beside quiet waters, comforts them, restores them, guides them, and gives them everything they will ever need.  I was humbled that morning as I realized that it is God working in and through me.  My job is to feed these campers by speaking truth into their lives, loving them unconditionally, and making sure that everything that I do glorifies God.  God will take care of the rest and heal their brokenness and show His sheep the fullness of His love, mercy, and kindness.  My job is to simply feed them.

Rely on God in every situation.  Remember that it is the power of God working in and through you.  He is THE shepherd.  Humble yourselves and rely on His power.  Feed His Sheep.

Kelsey J.