The third time he 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
I was at a Christian conference this past weekend with friends from a different church, and we were very blessed to witness many ones came to Christ. One afternoon when we had some free time, I invited a few new believers to study the Bible together with me, and we talked about how we could love God back, since our love is so tiny compared to His infinite love. I shared two simple (but not easy) ways with them: Jesus said "If you love me, obey my commands" (John 14:15) and "If you love me, feed my sheep" (John 21:17). I was honestly only expecting them to remember them and perhaps start to demonstrate their love for God by obeying some of His commands (let's be honest, which one of us is capable of obeying all His commands and never do wrong?!), but one of them surprised me...
When we finished the Bible study, we were all heading to the canteen for dinner, but a guy who was just saved the day before and was at the Bible study with us said, "I'm not going, because I'm going to fast." I was quite surprised when I first heard that, but thought, "Well, great! They're all going to pray for their church, and since it's not really my church, I'll skip." I have been fasting, but that's mostly when I was going through severe suffering, that I really needed God's help. I have honestly never fasted to pray for my church's growth, thinking that if most of the believers aren't outreach oriented, then we wouldn't grow much anyway; yet forgetting that God can change hearts and move mountains.
Later when I talked to this guy again, I asked him, "So, what specific things did you pray for your church?" But he answered: "Oh, I didn't pray for my church. I prayed for my friend who's here with us but has not accepted Christ yet. Since I've found my Savior and eternal life, I want him to find it too!" I was even more shocked when I heard that, because it has never even occur to my mind that I would fast for anyone's salvation. I might consider fasting and praying for my church and many people's salvation in general (like before or during a mission trip or a Christian conference), but for one "stubborn" friend?! I have a couple of really good friends that I haven't talked to for years, that I pray on a weekly base for their salvation, but that's about it. Yet for this new believer, he's not just remembering "if you love me, feed my sheep" - he is actively feeding the lost sheep by lifting him up to God in prayer!
We all know the verse "if you love me, feed my sheep"; but are we actually feeding the sheep God sent along our way? Have we ever gone out of our way to feed the sheep? Will we start praying for God to send more sheep that we will need to get out of our way to pray for and to tend? Or to put it in the simplest way - are we loving God by doing what He asks?
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