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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Feeding His Sheep

"...Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again the second time,... lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him a third time... 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 21:15-17

A while ago, Jeffrey R. Holland gave a talk regarding this scripture. In this account, Christ had already risen from the tomb and had visited his apostles, then left. Peter and some of the other apostles decided to then go out fishing, where eventually the were reunited again with Christ and were feasting him. After having asked Peter 3 times to "feed his sheep", he tells him to continue to be a better disciple of Him. Elder Holland gives his version of this account and says,

"...To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me (Jeffrey R. Holland, The First Great Commandment, October 2012 General Conference)

So many of us have come to a great knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as such have the responsibility to go out and share it with the world. But how often do we, instead, ignore that responsibility and go and "cast our nets"?
I know that if we truly love our Savior, we will do our very best to keep his commandments and feed His sheep by sharing the precious truths within the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What is one way you have "fed His sheep" today?


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