“After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17 NLT)
Occasionally, I will get a request to add individuals to my direct mail list for Mark Writes. I always comply and very, very, rarely, get a rejection or questioning response, from the new readers. This week I did get a questioning response.
The new recipient responded to receiving the daily meditation by asking, “Why am I receiving this email?” The chain began. I responded, “One of your friends asked me to add you to the daily distribution. But more importantly, I was given a charge close to 40 years ago that included these words, ‘Feed the sheep.’” The email chain goes on, and the recipient asks: “How do you know that I am a ‘sheep?’” My response: “Because your friend said that you were a member of his church, and I assumed that you were a believer. I’m sorry if I was wrong, but I took that to mean you were one of the Lord’s ‘sheep.’” Keep following the chain. The recipient says, “What if I have already been fed?” My response: “Well, perhaps you will be reminded by means of the meditations of your feeding, or by chance you will be served some scriptural-based insight found in places where you did not graze enough in the past?” The recipient’s final response in the chain made me smile. He said, “Feed me until I want no more.” I did not respond any further. I let the chain end, no more sending a reply. However, inside I was saying, “Amen!” While you see why the email chain was worth sharing, let us not stop here. Continue reading.
His dialogue, and I am sure he is reading this today, moved me to see what I could find out about feeding sheep literally. It was interesting and I was made cognizant of a few things, looking through my spiritual prism. Here is what I found: (1) Sheep need to eat, but they must eat the right grains and not allowed to eat too much. (I may add a story in the meditations I send you to draw your attention, but they are all centered around the “right food,” excerpts from God’s word, verses that will make readers God-conscious and Christ-centered, on any given day.) (2) Sheep are known as ruminants. They have four stomachs, allowing them to get the get the most out of low-energy foods. (For the record, these meditations are somewhere between 250 and 1100 words. I try for 500-650 words, except on Monday. This equates to a low number of pages, compared to pages in a published book, seeing how 650 words make up one page in an average book. So, I felt okay about the length of the meditations.) (3) Sheep can eat too much. (This is where I agree, respecting the fact that overeating can cause complications. Therefore, I try my best not to feed too much on any “feeding,” but I will never stop keeping my charge to feed the sheep.) How about one more? (4) Sheep should not often be without food because it can lead to death in hours or days due to food imbalance. Sheep should not skip eating even for a day because they can end up eating something toxic around their habitat. (Again, I felt validation for sending out these meditations daily! The Lord’s sheep, including me, need to be fed…every day. Spiritual deprivation is a result of word, God’s word, deprivation.
Feed on this early morning scriptures, above and below, and let them prompt you, even if you don’t have four stomachs like actual sheep, to be fed even more by the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Understand the role of the under-shepherd and the need of the Lord’s sheep. Eat well this holiday weekend okay? Be blessed!
“God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows,you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word,you let me catch my breathand send me in the right direction. Even when the way goes throughDeath Valley, I’m not afraidwhen you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crookmakes me feel secure. You serve me a six-course dinnerright in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.” (Psalm 23:1-5 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King