John 21:16 ". . . do you love Me? . . . Tend My sheep"
Jesus asks if we love Him... and if we do, we are to tend His sheep. I love Him, so I am writing these devotionals to feed His sheep. I am working through Oswald Chambers' book My Utmost for His Highest for my own spiritual growth and sharing my journey through this blog. I am trying my best to be a consistent and reliable source of encouragement and growth for His sheep. I am devoted to my Lord.
The world's way does not support people being devoted to loving Christ. The world itself does not love Jesus Christ. The way of this world is to get involved and support causes. People do not desire to follow Christ and be his disciple. They only want God for what God can do for them.
Jesus does not want lukewarm love. He wants devotion. Jesus wants his people to love him above all else in their life.
Jesus' life on earth reflected His complete devotion to His Father in heaven. His obedience to God was to be the perfect Lamb, to die for our sins, and restore us to the Father. He was not here to serve or heal humanity; His devotion to God was His primary focus, and the overflow of that devotion was the healing of the people. That is why He did not set up a mission and have people line up and come to Him. He was not here for that. That was not His main goal in life at the time of His service on earth.
And we are not here to convert others to our way of thinking; we are to feed His sheep, which means we are to provide nourishment in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to people. We plant the seed and then God will cause the seed to sprout and grow.
Our call is to be devoted to Christ and follow Him. He will direct our paths; He will provide each of us with a direction for our walk. We are not called to pick up causes or try to save humanity.
The need of humanity will drain you; it is never-ending. You will be drained and wilting before the end of the day, with nothing to fill you back up.
But a lot of people are devoted to the cause of what they think Christ stood for. Because He was seen healing people, showing compassion, and performing miracles, many people want to take up a cause for the hunger, pain, and suffering of humanity.
If everyone were devoted to Jesus, the world would be filled with His peace and love, and much of the suffering caused by sin would naturally disappear.
The answer is devotion to Christ Himself. He alone gives the bread of life that satisfies the hunger in us. He alone can quench the thirst from a well of water that the Spirit causes to spring up within us into everlasting life. Surrender to His authority in our life allows us to walk in the Spirit and worship the Father in spirit and truth. And the Holy Spirit will then cause us to remember all things, teach us all things, and show us all things that the Father would have us know.
Surrender to Christ is a life of devotion to Christ. What the world needs is Jesus Christ in all hearts and on the throne of all lives. When you finally see who Jesus Christ is, the revelation results in devotion to Him.
The love of God for all mankind is never-ending. He desires that all souls be saved. In a surrendered life, the Holy Spirit causes the love of God to well up inside of you. Then the love of God flows freely out into the world. As surrendered souls, we are devoted to Christ, and we will feed His sheep. And all the world will know the love of the Shepherd for His sheep; they will know His voice and follow Him.
Follow the Lord your Shepherd and you will know peace in your life.
Selah.
~ Quil
Lord, awaken my devotion;
I surrender my life to You alone.
Scripture References
John 21:16 — Jesus links love for Him with tending His sheep.
John 10:27 — His sheep know His voice and follow Him.
Luke 14:26 — True discipleship requires supreme devotion to Christ.
John 12:24 — A surrendered life bears fruit that transforms the world.
John 4:14 — Jesus alone gives the living water that satisfies the soul.
John 6:35 — Christ is the bread of life who ends spiritual hunger.
John 14:26 — The Spirit teaches, reminds, and guides surrendered hearts.
Romans 12:1 — Devotion begins with offering ourselves fully to God.
Colossians 3:23 — True service flows from devotion to the Lord, not causes.
Psalm 23:1 — The Lord our Shepherd provides everything we need.
1 Peter 5:2 — Shepherd God’s flock willingly and faithfully.
1 John 4:19 — Our devotion flows from His love for us.
Comments
Post a Comment