We also learn here very much about the work itself which Christ wants us to do. Fishing is not all - He would have us do shepherd work as well. That is, it is not enough to draw lost souls out of the waters of death; when they are saved, there begins a shepherding ministry for them and on their behalf which must be continued until they are gathered into the heavenly fold.
Some workers forget this.They strive only to secure the conversion of sinners, and after that they let them go on as best they can. Young Christians sometimes complain, and justly, too, that their pastors and teacher were unremitting in their attention to them until they had accepted Christ and united with the Church - but that afterward no loving interest in them was manifested, and they were left to go on alone in their struggle with temptation and in their efforts to grow as Christians.
Christ's teaching here is very emphatic on this point. He bids to feed His lambs, and to tend and shepherd His sheep. Anyone who recalls the kind of care given by Oriental shepherds to their sheep will understand the tender, faithful, patient, helpful art which Christ would have us give to all young Christians and to all feeble, tempted, struggling Christians of whatever age, over whom we are in any sense overseers. A great part of the work of every true pastor is the shepherd work - this work of feeding, protecting, guiding, comforting, encouraging and helping in all ways - the people under his care. If he fails in this, his ministry will be a failure; and how can he then appear before God's judgment bar at last, and answer for the souls committed to him? Bible teachers also, with young Christians in their classes should not fail to be most loving and faithful shepherds to them.
The last word then is one of great encouragement to the workers. When these tired and hungry apostles had brought their net to the shore they found a meal prepared for them by the Master's loving thoughtfulness.
There are two suggestions: That Jesus always provides for the needs of His faithful servants. At the close of every day of toil, when they came back to His feet with the results, He has food ready for them of which the world knows nothing.
Then at the close of all earth's toil, when the last net has been dragged through the waters and the weary worker reaches his eternal home, the Master will be standing on the heavenly shore to receive them and will immediately invite them to feed upon the blessed provisions of His glorious love and grace!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (Hebrews 12:15 NLT)
If we consider what were some of the practical factors in Christ's crucifixion we realize that His sufferings were caused by men's fickleness, bigotry, fearfulness, jealousy and treachery. In love He bore all these for us. And these may well be the factors which challenge the reality of our love to God. The fickle crowds so soon forgot the kindness and goodness of the Lord Jesus, allowing themselves to be carried away by base and false accusations, so that they cried out against the one whom they had formerly extolled and praised. The Pharisees were so dominated by a religious bigotry which was cruel in its intolerance and harsh in its legalistic denunciations that they took the lead in causing His sufferings. The disciples, as well as Pilate, were fearful; Judas was treacherous; and Satan was jealous himself and inspired jealousy in the Sadducees and others. But all this concentration of attacks upon love did not turn the Lord away from remaining faithful to the Father's will in every detail. God's love meant more to Him than the bitterness of enemies, the failure of friends, the strength of popular opinion or the matter of His own rights. When He came to rest in the glory of the Father's presence, love had conquered every temptation....
We, too, are confronted by some of the foes which He had to face, for we have been called to bear the Cross after Him. The fickleness of friends and fellow-workers, the bigoted criticism of those who claim to be God's servants, the fear-inspiring pressure of popular opinion, the misunderstanding and jealousy which Satan himself inspires – these are some of the tests put to our love. We can never hope to overcome them unless we remember that there is in the presence of God for us a Savior who suffered the full agony of these things, but accepted them as part of the cup which the Father had given Him to drink. It was love for the Father which enabled Him always to choose the Father's will, and the outcome of His triumph is that "we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love." There is a sense in which God is seeking to undo in us all that failure of love which we inherit from Adam. He exposes us to the painfulness of the Cross, not in some capricious or unsympathetic way, but because He aims to reproduce in us that love in fulfillment of His will which Christ already presents to Him on our behalf.
We, too, are confronted by some of the foes which He had to face, for we have been called to bear the Cross after Him. The fickleness of friends and fellow-workers, the bigoted criticism of those who claim to be God's servants, the fear-inspiring pressure of popular opinion, the misunderstanding and jealousy which Satan himself inspires – these are some of the tests put to our love. We can never hope to overcome them unless we remember that there is in the presence of God for us a Savior who suffered the full agony of these things, but accepted them as part of the cup which the Father had given Him to drink. It was love for the Father which enabled Him always to choose the Father's will, and the outcome of His triumph is that "we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love." There is a sense in which God is seeking to undo in us all that failure of love which we inherit from Adam. He exposes us to the painfulness of the Cross, not in some capricious or unsympathetic way, but because He aims to reproduce in us that love in fulfillment of His will which Christ already presents to Him on our behalf.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
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