Christian Living
I was listening to a preacher last night, and he touched on something that made me think. He was speaking in regards to The Virtuous Woman, but he mentioned a teacher who made a difference in his life. That made me think of what Jesus said to Peter in John, chapter 21 beginning at verse 15, when He asked Peter, “Do you love me...then feed my sheep.” That made me think, do we really love Jesus? Are we feeding His sheep? This is not necessarily feeding them food, but feeding them spiritually, are we making a difference in the lives of others? That question really stands out to me, “Am I making a difference?” Are we so busy trying to get all we can, or are we busy feeding His sheep? Are we demonstrating our love for Christ by going out and telling others about Him? Are we being surrogate parents to some lost boy or girl who may not have a parent or parents in their life that is willing to tell them about the Lord? Are we willing to spend time with a child that does not belong to us or go visit the elderly. Going to church on Sunday is not feeding His sheep, but taking the Word of God out of the church and taking it to a dying world, a hospital bed, a nursing home, visiting someone that is incarcerated, going out into a neighborhood that is drug infested and taking back the streets, now that is feeding His sheep. Making the neighborhood safe so that the children can go outside and play without the fear of being beaten by gang members or shot in a drive by. Feeding His sheep means to go to the parks and determine to make it a safe place for children to play. Feeding His sheep means listening to a child read that is struggling in school, holding the hand of a scared child at the doctors’ office, sitting by a hospital bed of someone who is comatose and reading to them, fixing a meal for someone who is under the weather. People think that it is the big things we do that matter, but it isn’t, the smallest of things can make the biggest impressions. Jesus tells us that whatever we do to the least of them, we do unto Him, which means, when you spend time with the wayward child across the street, you are spending time with Jesus, when you go listen to Mother Turner in the nursing home, you are spending time with Jesus, when you go an sit and witness to that atheist in the jail house, you are spending time with Jesus. We think that we may have to do something on a grand scale to do something for the Lord, but if you touch the life of one person and tell them about Jesus, then that is grand.
Jesus said, “If you love me, feed my sheep,” we are all His sheep, because He died for all of us, not just a select few. That means that drug dealer across the street from the church is His sheep. That means that brother who has not been to church in years because He is angry with God is His sheep. That means that sister who is a prostitute on a street corner is His sheep, and Jesus said, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” That means to stop talking about them and start talking to them. That means stop judging them and start praying for them. I had the opportunity on last night before church to go across the street and to witness. When we first arrived there last night, my children did not want me to go, they said the people across the street does not like us. (They thought they were mean and bad because they have heard them shooting and fighting over there) I proceeded to tell my children, regardless of what they do, they are still God’s children, and they deserve to hear God’s word also. Some people may not be willing to go and witness to them, because there are kids out there who sell drugs, and because they do fight and they are some who are gang members, but where God sends us, He will provide for us and He will protect us, because we are going in His name. We have to be about our Fathers business, we have to do what Jesus told Peter, feed His sheep. We have to show God that we love Him; we have to do that which He told us to do. The Great Commission was not given as a filler for the Bible; it was given as a commandment by Jesus. We have to stop talking about what we are doing and just do, because as the old saying goes, “talk is cheap.” We can not choose God’s sheep, which means we should not pick and choose who we witness to; we can’t say that God’s word is for this person, but not that one. God reminds us in His word that He is no respector persons, and that His desire is for all to be saved, man, woman, boy or girl. Are you making a difference in the life of someone, will some child remember you as an individual that took time with them? Will some boy or girl remember you as the man or woman that opened up your home to them? Will some young girl remember you as a mother when they found themselves pregnant at an early age, or as a convictor of their character? Jesus said, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” Do you want to be remembered for having a big house on a hill, or for having a heart that says, no matter what, Jesus loves you? Do you want to be remembered for fame and fortune, or do you want to be remembered for how many lives you touched for Jesus with your fame and fortune? Do you want to be remembered for giving a child life (not meaning that the child is your biological child), or for the death of a child, because you would not invest the time to make sure that child knew God? I guess it all boils down to this question and statement, “Do you love Jesus?” “Then feed His sheep!” Be Blessed
Denise Watson-Smith (Dee Dee)
April 27, 2006
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