Mine

Recently, a friend asked me to check on his house while he was traveling, to make sure the plants were watered, the grass was mowed, and everything was in order.

As I drove my friend to the Denver Airport, I felt a sense of responsibility well up in me. My neighbor expected me to care for his property as if it were my own, and I wanted to fulfill his expectations. I wanted to steward both the home and the trust that had been given to me.

One afternoon after I mowed the lawn, I spent additional time on my hands and knees trimming and plucking weeds... not because the yard was mine, but because it wasn’t. I wasn’t pruning my own property; I was nurturing someone else’s. Honestly, the sense of responsibility I felt to care for my friend’s yard made the hard work more bearable.

During a final rendezvous Jesus had with His disciples, He intentionally spoke into Peter’s life. Jesus’ words speak like a megaphone into my own soul as well.

Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him and each time Peter’s affirmation is followed by an instruction: ▪ “Feed my lambs.” ▪ “Tend my lambs.” ▪ “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus clarifies that these are HIS sheep. They belong to Him, not Peter. We are invited into a privileged role of caring for and protecting what God entrusts to us. Like Peter, we are stewards, not owners.

The kids we serve are Christ’s lambs, and when I love His sheep my heart is bound to His heart. Tend and feed the sheep, not because they’re yours, but because they’re not.