Tag Archives: the book of John

“’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.'” (John 4:34, NIV)

We need to be careful of what we eat. Over time, what we “consume” eventually becomes a part of us.

Jesus said that His “food” was: (1) To do the will of His Father; and (2) To finish His work.

What is it that energizes you? What is it that were you to have to do without, you would die? By definition, this is our “food.”

As followers of Jesus, we should have the exact same motivation that He did. To eat anything else assures spiritual malnutrition and the risk of being consumed by unworthy ambitions.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these [other] things [we so eagerly seek, including literal food] will be added [provided] to us.” (Note: Bracketed words are my amplifications.)  – Luther

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“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” (John 5:6, NIV)

A little story (not true, but illustrative): Jesus encountered three disabled men along the roadside.  The first, He touched and he was able to walk.  He touched the second man, and his sight was restored.  As Jesus approached the third man, the man retreated and said, “Don’t touch me!  I am on permanent disability.”
 
It may be hard for some of us to fathom, but those who have spent time helping acutely needful people can attest to the fact that not all such people want to “get well”; especially if they have been in that “condition for a long time.”  Change — even for good — can be unsettling because it means releasing the old, familiar, ways.  Change means — well — change. 
 
Our Lord addresses each of us at the point of our need, and He asks, “Do you want to get well?”  – Luther
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“I have chosen you.” (John 15:16a, KJV )

Today, a reminder from Oswald Chambers’ devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest”: “Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you.”   – Luther

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