From beholding this beautiful fleecy flock I learned a lesson which I hope never to forget.  The principal cause of their well-developed frame and handsome appearance was, they were well cared for when they were lambs.  Since then I have often remembered, and felt the import of, the command the Savior so tenderly gave his shepherds—­“Feed my lambs.”  Over and over has it in all its strength and beauty been breathed anew by the Spirit in my soul, animating me to greater assiduity in caring for the precious lambs of his fold.  And, thus, I shall prove my love to him by doing all I can in caring for his lambs.

Lambs need something more than feed; they must be sheltered from the cold wind and cruel storm.  Feed them ever so well, but if you expose them to the wintry storm, they will die.  In John 21:15 the word feed is translated from the same Greek term as is the word feed in the 17th verse; but in the 16th verse the word feed is translated from an entirely different Greek term.  In this verse the Greek does not mean simply to feed, but to protect, to shelter, to tend.  The shepherd’s duty is not only to feed the lambs, but also to guard them from the wolves that are seeking to devour them.

WHO ARE CHRIST’S LAMBS.

It is those who are young in Christian experience whom the Savior calls lambs.  The shepherds that are to feed them are his ministers.  A lamb is one of the most meek, tender, and tractable of all the young animals, and very fittingly represents one who has received the meek and tender spirit of Christ.  Christianity in its nature is meek and mild.  It converts the wolf into a lamb and the leopard into a kid.  Young Christians are, therefore, beautifully spoken of as lambs, whose nature is mild and gentle.  Christ’s lambs are those who have received into their hearts his lamb-like spirit.  They are those whose hearts and souls have been touched and thrilled with the mildness and tenderness of divine life; those in whom the “hidden man of the heart” is robed in righteousness and adorned with “a meek and quiet spirit,” which is precious before God.

You might robe a wolf with a lamb’s skin, but it would still be a wolf.  A person may profess to be a Christian:  but unless he has a change of heart and affection; unless he has been made meek and gentle by the Spirit of the Lord coming into his heart, he is only a wolf, after all, and not of the Savior’s fold.  Jesus speaks of some who put on “sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  By “wolves” he means men and women with wicked hearts.  They profess to be Christians; but in their hearts are envy, pride, hatred, jealousy, love of self, and love of the world.  They may appear quite lamb-like in public life, but in their hearts no change has been wrought by the transforming power of God’s grace.  To be “Jesus’ little lamb” is not only to have a profession of Christianity, but to have the heart cleansed by the blood of Jesus from envy, pride, malice, love of the world, etc., and filled with meekness, gentleness, and love.