Riff's Christian Journal

Back in the 70’s I had started a newsletter called “The Christian Layman”(Insights from a Layman’s Journal). The following was the first article in that newsletter.

_____________

Apostle Describes Meeting With Jesus

I was soaking wet, having waded ashore from the boat. The others, I had left on board, were guiding its rough underbelly onto the cool sand that had been chilled by the night air.

As I sat down, the damp sand crumpled under my weight, and I became conscious of how cold were my clothes, but I did not care. For there, sitting beside the warm fire that He had just made, was my Master – Jesus.

It had been a few days since we last met, and now we were sharing a breakfast of bread and fish. Where the food had come from I did not know and I did not care. Nothing mattered except that Jesus was alive and He was with us once again. I felt great.

We finished off the last of the fish and I turned toward Jesus; He was looking at me. It was as if He was looking into my very soul, the very heart of my existence.

“….. Do you love me?”

The words stung.

“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Two more times he asked me the same question; three times in all. Twice I said “yes.” The third time…

“Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you.”

Feed my sheep.”

I had denied Him three times on the night before He was crucified.

Now, three times He made me tell Him that I loved Him, even though He knew I did before saying so. But, more important, He had said,

“Feed my sheep.”

For three years, He had fed us, not just food but something more. He had told us that man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

We are not to worry about what we are going to eat and drink. We are not to worry about whether or not everyone has physical or material comfort.

No, we are to provide His sheep with the bread that gives eternal life – Jesus.

He knows His sheep we do not. So in order for us to follow His command, we must bring the bread of life to everyone we meet. We must present Jesus to everyone, every time, all of the time. Anything else and we fail.

How about you? Have you been placed in the position of feeding His sheep? When you see Him face to face will He be able to say…

“Well done thou good and faithful servant.”