30 Devotions For Youth LeadersSample
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.
Scripture
About this Plan
This one month reading plan is designed to encourage, teach and inspire anyone who works with youth. Taken from Youth For Christ president Dan Wolgemuth’s weekly blog, “Friday Fragments,” these 30 devotions offer a fresh vision for ministry and challenging insight into what it means to walk with God.
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