I like to cook. I have a huge collection of cookbooks for two reasons; one, I like the enjoyment when my family likes what I cook for them, and two, if I am honest with myself, I am insecure about my cooking skills. So, I collect recipes. I like to cook many different types of dishes from breakfast dishes to desserts. My family likes to eat many different types of food too.
In John 21:15-17, Jesus is instructing Peter to feed Jesus’s sheep, to take care of them. Peter knew that Jesus was not speaking of actual sheep, but the believers. He was not talking about just physical food, but spiritual food. In Matthew 4:4 Jesus told his disciples that man does not live on bread alone but on the very word of God. We too are instructed by Jesus to “feed His sheep” in Matt 28:20.
If you look around our church, you will see that we have many “cooks who are feeding us…the sheep”. We have some who prepare the Word for us in song, as text, as a game, or nursery rhyme or even has a healing salve. You are not only a receiver, but a giver of God’s word as well. A chef so to speak—what’s your dish?
On your own: Read John 21:15-17, Matt 4:4, and Matt 28:20. How is Jesus calling you to feed His sheep?
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for giving us your Word as our daily bread, but not only that: Thank you for the wonderful people in our lives who took the time to “cook for us and feed us”. Enable us to spread your word in this dying world to bring You glory and honor. In Jesus’ name. Amen