Monday

Related Verses
Hos. 11:4
4 I drew them with cords of a man, With bands of love; And I was to them like those Who lift off the yoke on their jaws; And I gently caused them to eat.

John 21:15-17
15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.
16 He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.
17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

1 Thes. 2:7,11
7 But we were gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children.
11 Just as you know how we were to each one of you, as a father to his own children, exhorting you and consoling you and testifying,

Ezek. 34:15-16
15 I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah.
16 I will seek the lost one and bring back the one that was driven away and bind up the broken one and strengthen the sick one; but the fat one and the strong one I will destroy – I will feed them with judgment.

Acts 20:28
28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.

Related Reading
When the Lord stayed with His disciples after His resurrection and before His ascension, in one of His appearings, He commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep in His absence, while He is in the heavens (John 21:15-17). Shepherding implies feeding, but it includes much more than feeding. To shepherd is to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” p. 447) 

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After we beget new believers and baptize them, they become our little children. Now we must be like mothers to nourish and cherish them. To nourish is to feed, and to cherish is to nurture with tender love and foster with tender care. The most effective way for a mother to cherish her babe is for her to hold him in her bosom. When the mother does this, the little one is warmly cherished and comforted. Many times when a little one cries, he is “praying” to his mother, asking her to cherish him. When she picks him up and puts him in her bosom, he will soon stop crying because he has been fostered with tender care. When we go to the home meetings to take care of the newly baptized ones, we need to have the realization that we are going to nourish and cherish them. This way of taking care of the home meetings is very effective. The new ones will feel cherished, comforted, and warmed up. They will lose any feeling of loneliness. 

Paul told the Thessalonians, “We were gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children” (1 Thes. 2:7). Paul likened himself to a nursing mother in his care for the new believers. We need to preach the gospel and take care of the newly baptized ones in the organic way, not in the old way…I hope that we can study these matters in small groups. This will revolutionize our way of preaching the gospel. We must preach the gospel in the organic way to beget sinners as children of God, making them the regenerated members of the Body of Christ. Following this we must exercise to cherish the new ones in their homes week by week. Within the first month after they are baptized, it is good to visit them ten times. After one month of this cherishing, the new ones will become settled and established. In the past we were short in caring for the new ones after we baptized them. As a result, many of the new ones disappeared after a few months. This was not Paul’s way. Paul cherished the people whom he had begotten through the gospel. In addition to being like a nursing mother, Paul was also like an exhorting father to the new believers (v. 11). 

To cherish and nourish the newly baptized ones is to feed the lambs (John 21:15-17). In the Gospel of John we are charged…to bear fruit and to feed the lambs. To bear fruit is our daily duty. Abiding in the Lord is the condition for us to bear fruit. If we do not abide in the Lord, we cannot bear fruit. To feed the lambs, we need to love the Lord. To bear fruit is a matter of abiding, and to feed the lambs is a matter of loving. In John 21:15-17 the Lord asked Peter three times if he loved Him. When Peter told the Lord that he did love Him, the Lord told Peter to feed His lambs, shepherd His sheep, and feed His sheep. We have to abide in the Lord that we may bear fruit, and we have to love the Lord that we may have a heart to take care of His flock. The shepherd of a flock does not labor according to whether or not he feels like it. He does his duty to shepherd the flock and to feed the lambs day by day. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 1, “The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church,” pp. 321-322) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 2, “The God-men,” ch. 2