God told me to grow food

When they had finished 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.”  

He then said to him 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, “Tend my sheep.”  

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a 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."          John 21:15-17 NAB translation

John is the last book of the Gospels which are the books in the New Testament  that are solely focused on the 30-to-35 years that start shortly before the birth of Jesus and up-to when Jesus returned to heaven. Chapter 21 is the last chapter in John. The quotes are within 8 verses of the very end of the Gospels. They are, effectively, among Jesus's last words as he walked out the door.

While no word of Jesus is more, or less, important than any other words, as a human I perceive them as being like my wife reminding me to perform some mundane, easy-to-ignore task as she heads off to a week-long conference. "Be sure to empty the diaper pail!!!" for instance.

The humor in the passage is that, other than domestic turkeys which were "discovered" in the 1500s, sheep are easily the stupidest and most suicidal of all animals, domestic or wild.

God doesn't tell me to feed His people because they are worthy or awesome or earned it. He tells me to feed them because we are His.

So, if this blog is heavily weighted towards gardening and orchards and hunting and fishing and raising animals on pasture...there are reasons.