“Simon, son of John, do you love me? Feed my lambs…” (John 21:13)
In 1627, Samuel Rutherford penned a letter to Marion M'Naught, wife of William Fullerton, minister of a small Presbyterian church in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. Things were not going well for William, and he had few to "speak a good word" for him. He wanted God to "transplant" him to another place, perhaps a larger place where his gifts would be acknowledged and better utilized.
Rutherford wrote, "All God's plants, set by His own hand, thrive well. Ask of God a submissive heart. 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. 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.”
Though the people be not gathered, "continue for the love of the Prince of your salvation.” Shepherd His lambs. Teach, pray, listen to their bleating and love them. Do it because you love Jesus “who is standing at the end of your way, holding up in His hand the prize and the garland to the race-runners.”
Though “the work do not prosper...you shall not lose your reward.”
David Roper
11.8.21
