Jesus,
speaking to a crowd of seekers, said: 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." John 6:27-29.
This teaching by our Lord is startling to the modern ear
because it runs counter to our secular culture, which says it doesn’t matter
what you believe, as long as you are a law-abiding citizen doing some kind of
productive work. But the work they speak of does not produce “food that endures
to eternal life.” Jesus, the sent one, was saying that the only way to be productive,
really productive, is to believe in Him. The belief Jesus spoke of was no
half-hearted thing. He was saying that our faith in Him, expressing itself in a
determined seeking to know Him better is the work God requires. Centuries
earlier, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God had said, “You will seek
me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jer
29:13).
Jesus
told His disciples, his chosen ones, that there are rewards for those who
believe in him. He said, “…the
Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”(John
15:16). What does it mean to ask in Christ’s name? It means that we ask according to his
character and will, and we can only do that if we know him. How do we know him? By paying attention to
the two ways he has revealed himself to us: his creation and his word, the
Bible. When we meditate on his creation and his word, with a heart full of
desire for him, asking him to show us more of his glorious character, he gives
us what we ask because we are asking for the things God wants with all His
heart to give us. He gives us himself. His Holy Spirit indwells us, we are
born again.
“But
we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us.” (2 Cor. 4:7). We need never fear that we cannot
do work that has eternal consequences.
Why? Because God himself is
doing the good works, through us, that he prepared in advance for us to do.
(Eph. 2:10).
