A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (June 5, 2018)
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:17)
Please notice that this was the third time that Jesus told Peter to “Feed my sheep”. When Jesus repeated something three times it meant it was very important and He did not want Peter, or us, to forget it. I want us to think about that statement from the perspective of an Army of believers being assembled and prepared for battle.
When I was going through US Army boot camp in 1963 there were certain things that were very important. Your rifle was one of those things and it had to be kept clean and oiled at all times. There were other things too but one of the most important was chow. You had to eat well to keep your strength up. I went to boot camp in South Carolina in the middle of the summer and it was very hot. After a day of marching and drills you had better eat right that afternoon and the next morning if you wanted to stay strong for the next day.
The Church was about to be birthed and Peter was going to be a big part of that so Jesus was telling him that feeding the sheep was very important. If you want to win the battles you need a healthy and well fed army of believers. A starving army is not good.
When I look at the church as a whole today, I do not see a well-fed church. There are definitely pockets that are well-fed but for the most part we are looking at a Church that has succumbed to the attacks of the enemy because it is weak and malnourished. The influence the Church once had has diminished greatly just in the last 50 years and that is just the plain truth. I believe that most of that is due to not properly feeding the sheep. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Hebrews 5:12)
Now, what do we do about this? We can blame the Pastors and teachers but what does that get us. The person we need to look at the most is ourselves. We have no excuse. We have some of the best technology this world has ever seen. We have numerous translations of the Bible and all kinds of teachings, videos, television programs, commentaries, and much, much more available to us. Ask yourself this question. Am I in a position to distinguish between milk and meat? Can I even recognize and receive meat?
We need to be feeding ourselves and if we see that our church is not properly preaching the Word of God then we need to either make the required changes in leadership or find another church. We cannot get by on a couple of jokes and a nice story every Sunday. It is imperative that we have the full armor of God on and are in a position to receive meat and not just milk. We are in a fight for our civilization, our culture, and our children. If we are weak and malnourished we will lose this battle. God made us overcomers. He does not want us to lose, but we all have to be prepared!
