He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not wish to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

In the first sermon of this series I told you multiplication was a command. Genesis 1, be fruitful and multiply. Matthew 28, go and make disciples. And it is. But here in John 21, the commission doesn't come after a declaration of authority. It comes after a question of affection. "Do you love Me?" And the multiplication, the feeding, the shepherding, the tending... it doesn't flow from duty. It flows from devotion.

Not "Go because I said so" but "Go because you love Me, and because you love Me, what matters to Me will become what matters to you."

And that is a different engine entirely. Commanded multiplication runs on obligation, and obligation burns the carrier out. Compelled multiplication runs on love, and love is the only fuel that doesn't empty you because it comes from a source that never runs dry. Some of you have been trying to serve God out of a sense of duty and you're wondering why it feels like you're running on fumes. It's not because the calling isn't real. It's because the engine is wrong.

Now watch this. Every time Peter answered, no matter what word he used, Jesus gave the same commission. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. That means the barrier to multiplication was never competency. It was never having the right words or the right training or the right number of relationships. The barrier was always whether or not you love the One who sends you, because when you love someone, what they care about becomes what you care about. His sheep become your concern. His mission becomes your assignment. Not because you're obligated but because love does that.

And then Jesus says one more thing. Verse 19. "Follow me." Same words as Luke 5, but a different call. The first "Follow me" led to miracles. Come see what I'm going to do through you. This "Follow me" leads to sacrifice. Right before He says it, Jesus tells Peter how he's going to die. "When you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not wish to go." The first call promised Peter he'd catch men. The second call told him he'd lay down his life.

And Peter followed anyway. That's the net holding.

So let me bring this back to where we started. What feels like your biggest barrier to multiplying your faith? I don't know what to say. I don't have relationships. Fear of rejection. I haven't thought about it. Here's what I see on this shoreline. Jesus didn't answer any of those barriers with a program. He answered them with a meal and a question. He fed Peter first, He mended the net at the table, and then He didn't ask, "Do you have a strategy?" He didn't ask, "Are you trained enough, brave enough, ready enough?" He asked, "Do you love Me?" And when Peter said yes, even a broken, phileo, honest, not-what-was-asked-for yes... Jesus said, "Feed My sheep."

I'm not asking you today if you have the right words. I'm not asking if you have enough training or enough relationships or enough courage. I'm asking you what Jesus asked Peter on that shore. Do you love Him? And if all you've got is phileo, if all you can bring is honest, imperfect, still-healing love... that is enough. Because every time Peter answered, Jesus gave the same commission. Not when you're ready. Not when you've arrived. Now. With what you have. From where you are.

Identify one person this week and take one step toward them. Not with a script, not with a strategy, just with the love you actually have. Buy them coffee, send a text, ask how they're doing and actually listen. Let multiplication begin with devotion.