What are You Working For?
John 6:26-29
The huge crowd following Jesus had just eaten fish and loaves Jesus had miraculously produced. Not only were they curious about Jesus but more than that they were wanting whatever he was going to give away! Maybe more bread! More fish! Maybe even a little wine!
Knowing this Jesus confronts them, “‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’ Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’”
Jesus turns the people’s focus from food to faith. What exactly is Jesus inviting them to do?
The simple answer is to do the work of believing in the One God sent to them, Jesus, the Son of Man. I think this may be just as confusing to us today as it was to those following Jesus then.
Believing is the action of accepting something as true. It may sound so simple. You may even think, I’ve done this! I believed in Jesus at such a time and date in my life. Is that it? Is this what the Work of God is? The answer is an important YES! Yet what Jesus is clarifying here to the crowd is the continuing work to believe in him that endures to eternal life.
Jesus invites you and me to believe in him as he did the crowd that day. This belief is not just a head decision at some point in time, but an ongoing head/heart/soul believing that allows Jesus to guide and direct our lives as we continue to believe.
Active believing with our mind, heart, and soul deepens our relationship with Jesus and therefore changes us:
We slowly begin to look through his eyes at our world, instead of just ours.
We go places he goes that we would, on our own, naturally not go.
We enjoy being stretched in doing things that we wouldn’t think of doing without Jesus’ active presence and encouragement.
We also quit doing things that no longer fit with traveling with Jesus more actively.
This is a beginning of what’s involved in believing in Jesus, continually, “enduring into eternal life.” A whole new world opens up as we do this work of believing. It’s the world Jesus intended us to experience and never quits inviting us to engage in.
Specifically, the active work of believing engages at least three basic steps:
Seeing
Understanding and
Consequently, TRUSTING Jesus more and more
Just like in the feeding of the 5,000 where many people “saw” Jesus miraculously provide food for everyone out of two small fish and five small barley loaves. Many began to “understand” in a radically new way saying, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).
“Trusting” in Jesus came for many as they continued to see and understand. The New Testament records that throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry many Jews and Greeks believed in him and chose to trust and follow him.
What about you? What do you hear Jesus saying to you as if you were in the crowd that day which saw and ate the food Jesus miraculously provided?
Don’t reduce Jesus to simply being a provider for your physical daily hunger. Go Deeper!
Invite Jesus to be more active in your life.
Do the “work” of believing to see, understand and trust Jesus, resulting in eternal life.
You are invited by Jesus to actively believe in him and see where he leads you. Are you hungry for more? Are you actively believing and enjoying where you are with Jesus? Or, are you bored, or looking for more but don’t know what next step to take?
Let me offer two steps you may choose to take:
I and a team of teachers, leaders and pastors invite you to consider participating in the Spiritual Formation Institute which you can read about by clicking on the link below. Then, click on RETREAT EXPERIENCE. Follow the steps to learn about what takes place to help you see, understand and trust Jesus more in your life. Click here to watch an introductory video about the Retreat Experience. Call the office if you have questions about how to sign up for 2023.
spiritualformationinstitute.com
The other step would be to call the Renewing Life Center. Take a step to address something in your life that needs attention so you can move into greater life, joy and health. We would enjoy meeting you and participating with you in this step!
Patricia Meye, M.Div., D.Min.