Needful Things ~ Do You Love Me?

Greetings Dear Reader,

When Jesus’ friends abandoned his direction for them to spread the Gospel, he visited them.  They had returned to fishing for fish instead of men.  Peter jumps out of the boat to swim to see Jesus.  He also was greeted with a simple question.

Jesus has prepared a meal of fish and bread.  He asks Peter, “Do you love me?”  He then tells Peter to feed his sheep.  He asks and commands three times.  There are a couple of things to consider when we think about our emotional needful things here.

The first is to understand that one cannot feed sheep if one is fishing for fish in isolation in a boat on a lake.  Let that sink in for a moment.  One cannot spread the Gospel of Christ in a boat filled with other Christ followers.  If it sounds like I am alluding to the micro-communities of churches you get extra marks for being clever.  We cannot address the needful things of the world if we are in our church boats and unreachable by those who need us.  We cannot feed sheep from the isolation of our churches.

We cannot show love, kindness, and grace from isolation.  Remember how Jesus greeted them?   He prepared food for them.  He filled their nets with abundance.  He provided for their physical needs before he confronted them about their social and spiritual ones.  We cannot do that from our boats.  Jesus equates loving him to feeding his sheep.  In the act, he set the example. 

Our obligation is to love as Christ did.  If we will not be with those who need him and meet their needs then we dare not say we love him.  We dare not say we love anyone if we are blind to their needs.  So, I ask the question Dear Reader.  Do you love me?  There is no wrong answer as long as you are honest.  What about those you do not love or will not show love?  They too have needful things and Christ commands us to love them if we dare think we love him.  For those of you who do not share my faith, feel free to hold those who do accountable to this.  We will all be confronted by this question eventually.  The Stranger on the shore, Jesus, will ask, “Do you love me?”

Stranger on the Shore – Michael Card

In the early morning mist
They saw a Stranger on the seashore
He somehow seemed familiar
Asking what the night had brought
With taught anticipation then
They listen to His order
And pulling in the net
Found more than they had ever caught

The one He loved first recognized
The stranger there was Jesus
And he alone remembered
This had happened once before
The one who had denied Him
Who had once walked on the water
Jumped in and swam to Him
To be confronted on the shore

You need to be confronted
By the Stranger on the shore
You need to have Him search your soul
You need to hear the call
You need to learn exactly
What it means for you to follow
You need to realize that He's asking for your all

The meal He had prepared for them
Was waiting on the fire
The smell of bread
The sizzle of the fish upon the coals
The laughter and the joy
That once more being all together
They didn't realize that He was searching all their souls

Then came the painful questions
That would pierce the soul of Simon
A threefold chance to reaffirm the love he had denied
The gentle eyes that saw his heart
And waited for an answer
Had seen the look upon his face
The moment he had lied

You need to be confronted
By the Stranger on the shore
You need to have Him search your soul
You need to hear the call
You need to learn exactly
What it means for you to follow
You need to realize that He's asking for your all

Now realize that you must
Face and answer all His questions
As you stand before the Stranger
On the shore inside your heart

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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