O BELIEVE IN HIM [JOHN 6:22-29]
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29).
How different is our understanding of God from the Gospel Jesus preached! It is so easy for us to believe that we please God when we meticulously observe His commandments. No wonder we are often shaken up when we read Jesus’ words that the primary “work” God wants is that we believe in Him, our Lord and Savior.
Jesus wants us to come to a deep and abiding belief in Him. He wants us to have the kind of faith that finds its home in our hearts as well as our minds, a faith that enables us to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). That is our primary “work”. He said that if we come to Him, “eternal life” would be ours (John 6:26-27). Through His death on the cross, we are given the promise of resurrection into new life – something that cannot be earned.
We busy ourselves with all manner of things in an effort to earn or maintain our heavenly reward. But God does not busy worker-bees trying to earn their way into heaven. He wants lovers of Christ and one another. The “power of His resurrection” is not something we can work-up to by our own efforts. It can only come as we spend time with Jesus in prayer and allow the life of His Spirit to replace the life of our fallen nature. Living by faith, we will be able to accomplish far more than living solely by our efforts.
Every day, let us spend time with Jesus in prayer. As we do, our ideas about earning heavenly merits will fall away. We can sit with Jesus, soak in His word, and allow our trust in Him to grow. The, the Holy Spirit will fill us and guide us in all that we are called to do. Through the Spirit’s promptings, we will understand that, more than anything else, it is a life lived in union with God that overcomes sin, the world, and the selfishness within us. Let us seek Jesus and take His life into ourselves every day.
Jakarta, 5 May 2014
A Christian Pilgrim
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