When you're hungry or in the middle of satisfying a food craving, how easy is it to share your food with someone else?
It is not a natural inclination to give food away that we want or need.
If it is hard to share your food when you're hungry, how easy is it to feed God's "sheep" when you're starving yourself?
It's not!
This command of "feed My sheep" was given to Peter, and it actually means to take care of God's children...on any of the mind, body, or spiritual levels.
On the surface, the command that Jesus made -- "feed My sheep" -- makes sense to the Christian because it is actually the Great Commission; however, we need to remember that Jesus said it as the answer to this question to Peter: "Do you love me?"
Jesus told Peter to take care of God's people as a sign of Peter's love for Him. What Jesus was saying is that Peter first needed a relationship with Jesus -- a love relationship -- and then, as a sign of that relationship, He was to go out to help others.
Jesus knows that we really can't go out to "feed" God's children the way God wants us to when we are hungry ourselves.
Jesus never intended us to go out to serve on our own -- before we have our whole-person needs met in Him first -- because, on our own, we cannot serve from a "full" state. It's like driving on empty...we'd be serving on empty.
Have you served, or have you seen someone serve on empty? It's not pretty!
The reality is, we need to be "sheep" first, and then be "sheep-feeders."
We know we can't drive on empty, but somehow we think we can give on empty.
It is by "being sheep" first that we recognize our "in need-ness" and learn how Jesus "feeds" and loves us.
Until we experience His amazing love and marvelous grace first hand, we won't have a redemption story to tell, and we won't know how He loves His children.
So have you experienced the amazing love of God for yourself?
Today, God invites you to be one of His sheep. His open arms welcome you!
It's free eating inside His sheep-fold. There's rest there, too.
There, you will learn what it means to be really, truly loved, wanted, accepted...and full.
There, you will see what God sees, and hear what God hears.
There, we will begin to see the people in our life as God sees them...and our hearts will begin to ache...our eyes will tear...our drive to help will spark...our sensitivities will awaken...compassion will well up in our soul.
When we experience God's fullness, grace, and forgiveness ourselves, we will naturally become a "sheep-feeder" God's way.
