We are past Valentine’s Day, and it’s not Mother’s Day, so this is not a pathetic attempt at “guilting” my nearest and dearest to call me…although I wouldn’t mind. It is really just me having one of those, “why haven’t I seen this before” moments with God.
Jesus said,
John 14:5, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
That is not a difficult concept for me to understand. Accepting the great gift of God’s love and forgiveness for me means that I want to live my life according to what the One, who loves me, says is best for me. I do not want to live in a way that would damage our relationship.
There is another passage that presents the question another way. In John 21, Jesus is speaking to Peter as follows:
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
Sooo, if I love God, a sure sign is that I am caring for his sheep? God will know that I love him if I follow His guidelines for living, AND I take care of His sheep.
Oswald Chambers says, “And Jesus has some extraordinarily funny sheep, some bedraggled, dirty sheep, some awkward, butting sheep, some sheep that have gone astray!” [i]
How true! We cannot just care for the “little lamb whose fleece is white as snow.” Most of the Father’s sheep are not fluffy and cute! Jesus even indicated that sometimes we may need to leave the safety and warmth of the fold to head out into the badlands searching for the ones who get lost. This may make us uncomfortable and may even cost us some sleepless nights. Search and rescue missions usually do. It sounds exhausting to take care of the sometimes difficult sheep in the fold while periodically chasing after those who willfully wander. How can one maintain this level of care?
Chambers again, “It is impossible to weary God’s love, and it is impossible to weary that love in me if it springs from the one center. The love of God pays no attention to the distinctions of natural individuality. If I love my Lord I have no business to be guided by natural temperament; I have to feed His sheep.”
In other words, the Spirit of God within me will reach out to love His sheep. I may not personally care for their appearance, temperament, choices, but basically that doesn’t matter. Will I cooperate with God who wants to pour out love? Or will I refuse because maybe I don’t like the look of that crusty old sheep, or of that willful wanderer who looks like he would rather butt you than talk to you?
In the Chinese calendar, this is the year of the sheep. So I wonder if what God is telling me is that this year I need to focus on feeding His sheep. After all, they all belong to Him. They are either found sheep, or lost sheep. “Do you love me?” He says. “Well then you know what to do.”
[i]
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Uhrichville: Barbour Publishing Inc., 1963.t