This time of year the subject of food seems to be the topic of many conversations. I don’t know about anyone else, but given all the amazing and delicious foods that I have eaten in the last month or so, I probably should not be hungry until late May!
In John 4:1-42 we find the wonderful gospel story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. As I was preparing to teach on this passage recently and as I went through and studied the various actions and reactions of the individuals in the story, perhaps none struck me as significantly as that of Jesus to his disciples.
When the disciples rejoin Christ from their trip into town, they say to him “Rabbi, eat something”. Jesus’ response could have focused on the physical need that he had as we are told that he is weary and thirsty from the journey. The situation could have played out where Jesus and the disciples share a meal and discuss the unheard of conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. But that is not what God wants us to see, that is not what was on Jesus’ heart. Jesus replies to the disciples in a manner that draws attention to his priorities in life and ministry, and that should set an example for our life as believers. Jesus plainly states “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Later in John, Jesus again stresses this point when he tells the disciples “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” His spiritual food, his sustenance, is found in doing the will of God the Father.
Christ was not sent to be idle while on earth. He was not sent to simply come and sit in the temple and reign from some lofty place of authority. He came and “he did”. Far too often our churches become a place of passivity. A place where people observe, receive, and are served, rather than a place where believers are doing the will of God…seeking, giving, and serving. Christ engaged, he gave, and he served with his entire being. And he did it all so that the will of his father would be done and would be finished.
If you have been called by God your heavenly Father to follow Christ, then you were called to do a mighty work for the God who called you. Be encouraged to seek and do the will of your heavenly Father, he longs to feed you with an abundance of grace, mercy, wisdom and love. Let us always hold foremost in our hearts and our minds the work of Christ…remember his willing, unconditional, and immediate obedience to the will of his father, and strive to pattern our lives after our Savior. Be fed in the will of God and let Christ satisfy your hunger and thirst.
“For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
John 6:33
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build up one another..." 