"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon
Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes,
Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you. ”Jesus said, “Feed my
lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love
me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus
said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to
him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because
Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you
know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my
sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself
and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your
hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to
go.” John 21:15-19
As we finished up our fourth day of
patching and painting a large recreation room in the lower level of the teen
boy’s group home, I confess that I was wrestling with questions of, “Is this really worth being away from
Barbara and my church family (and of course, Tyrod?)”
But then the Spirit checked me and
reminded me that it was worth it to Him to have a nice bright place for His troubled,
neglected and rejected teens to relax for a while.
He also reminded me that I had
prepared the team members that much of ministry work is doing ordinary things
with an extraordinary attitude. What sounds glamorous at first “A Mission Trip”,
often comes down to doing pretty ordinary things that may seem insignificant at
the time.
God called to my attention what
Jesus said to Peter in this portion of Scripture. In fact, He said it three
times! “Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep.”
When I listened to what Jesus says
to Peter here and then meditated on it I understood Jesus was essentially
telling Peter, “Peter, if you want to experience my love, make sure you express
my love to others!” And those expressions of love usually happen in ordinary
ways during ordinary days.
I would prefer to express His love
in spectacular and supernatural ways, but usually the opportunities He gives me
to demonstrate His love is in ordinary ways.
The types of things we have been
doing for a few days here at Hephzibah are done every day by the committed staff
of this necessary ministry. So, if we get bored by the ordinary imagine what it
must be like for them!
God revealed to me through the
Scripture portion above that the way to serve ordinary people in ordinary ways
on ordinary days without losing the passion of our purpose is this – stay connected
to the EXTRAORDINARY love of God! Experience it every day in the midst of the
ordinary and express it each day through the ordinary tasks of life!
Will you connect with God today?
Will you experience His
extraordinary love today?
Will you express that extraordinary
love to someone on this ordinary day?
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