“Feed My Sheep”
“If we are devoted to
the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and brokenhearted, for we shall
often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our
motive is love for Christ, no ingratitude can hinder us from service to our
fellowman.” —Oswald Chambers
In 1627, Samuel Rutherford penned a letter to Marion M'Naught, wife
of William Fullerton, a worthy clergyman doing his weary best in a small
Presbyterian church in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. Things were not
going well, and he had few to "speak a good word" for him.
Like most
of us he occasionally wondered it was time to move on: “He would most gladly have
the Lord's call for transplantation," Rutherford wrote. However, he
continued, ”all God's plants, set by His own hand, thrive well."
In other
words, as the adage has it, bloom where you're planted.
Rutherford
writes on, ”Ask of God a submissive heart. Your reward shall be with the Lord,
although the people be not gathered (as the prophet speaks); and suppose the
work do not prosper...you shall not lose your reward.”
So your
people do not gather in numbers and the work does not seem to be prospering, be
content for now to remain,[1] to pray, to instruct, to listen, to love, and to grow in grace.
Continue "for the love of the Prince of your salvation, who is
standing at the end of your way, holding up in His hand the prize and the
garland to the race-runners."
Feed your
sheep for love of Jesus and for no other reason (John 21:15-17). "You
shall not lose your reward."
David
Roper
5/25/15
