A day of getting things done…thank You, Father, for the ability – physically and mentally – to accomplish the tasks at hand. I am thoroughly blessed!
John 6:22-27 (<<click here to read the passage)
Some two thousand years later, Jesus’ words still confront us. A goodly portion of adult life – even my time in the ministry – has been about providing for my physical needs and desires. And surely there is nothing wrong with being gainfully employed to make sure there is a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs. But what do I do with Jesus’ statement in verse 27,
“…don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food.
It’s important to take things in perspective, Jesus was making a very pointed statement to those whose main goal was to fill their stomachs. In truth, many who followed Him after His miraculous feeding of the 5000 were hoping for another dinner and a show! And Jesus, by no stretch of the imagination, had not come to earth to simply meet our physical needs of nourishment and entertainment. He had come for so much more. And thus, the challenge…
“…don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” v27 NLT
And that is where our perspective needs to shift.
Throughout my lifetime how many hours have I spent in a concerted effort to meet the needs of my life here on earth? That would be a pretty big number that I could not even begin to compute but the bigger question is, how would that number line up with the number of hours I have spent in a concerted effort seeking the eternal life that [Jesus] the Son of Man can give you.
I don’t believe my tally in column B would be negligible but, in all honesty, at least in my early years, I would say it would fall far short of column B. I have been a follower of Jesus from my childhood and, yes, I have worked for food that endures [and leads] to eternal life, as the Amplified Bible translates this same passage.
I think one of the things with which we will be confronted at the Last Judgement will be all of the things that we didn’t accomplish that we could have. How much time, the precious commodity that it is, have we wasted? How many hours have we spent on inconsequential things?
I am taking this not as something to tear me down…to knock me down a notch or two…but as an encouraging challenge! The past is the past, and I can do nothing to change it…but I can sure set my heart and mind on a different course as I move forward. I also realize that even as each new day begins, I will not be a master of working for food that endures to eternal life, but I have to begin! And Lord willing, that’s exactly what I will do! Amen!!!
June 1st, 2021, Tues, 7:29 pm
