John 6:52-59
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's easy to assume it used to be easier. When I look at teenagers today, struggling with the weight of social media and the ease with which cyber bullies can haunt someone, I think about how much easier it was without any of that. It wasn't easy then, of course, but it's easy to gloss over hardships that occurred in the past.
It's also tempting to think that following Jesus was easier for the disciples. They saw all the miracles and heard him teach and watched him pray -- it must have been a no-brainer, right?
It sure doesn't seem like it. Jesus was challenging for anyone to follow. When he taught, he made people think, and he challenged their long-held beliefs, and it was a risk. Imagine hearing someone tell you that you needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood -- you'd raise an eye at such teaching. I certainly would. Would I walk away? It's easy now to say I'd follow no matter what, but in the moment -- this is a hard teaching.
The point is that Jesus makes us think. To follow Jesus is to be engaged spiritually and mentally. It's to grow, to ask big questions. Jesus assures us that he will never leave us and that he is the gate to eternal life, and so his every word is worth weighing as the treasure that it is. He did a new thing, and let us not take it for granted, but treasure him as the Savior and consider him as a wise teacher and bow before him as the King. The journey to freedom is worth it, but it's not easy, not today or ever. But the end -- the end is worth everything!
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
John 6:41-51
John 6:41-51
English Standard Version (ESV)
For forty years, the Israelites ate manna from heaven. My kids eat chicken twice a week and complain that it's all we ever eat. They wouldn't have made it very far in the wilderness journey. Forty years -- manna every day of the week, with an occasional side of quail. If you were born early in the journey, you might have never tasted anything other than those two things throughout your life.
Even though manna was miraculous, it couldn't prevent the Israelites from dying in the wilderness. Manna was able to sustain them on their journey, but it couldn't provide beyond the wilderness.
Jesus, however, is able to sustain us beyond our present journey. It's not just about getting us through today -- Jesus is strengthening us for an eternal life, and he's also sacrificing himself. Jesus is literally dying to feed us, so that we might eat and be sustained for everything that is to come, in this life and beyond.
Today, you've likely given some thought to what you'll eat for lunch, and maybe you've even planned dinner. You want to avoid hunger, so you think ahead.
Have you given thought to how you'll make time for Jesus to sustain and strengthen you? Are you planning to set aside time to eat, to take him in and let him change you? Plan for it.. Prepare for it. And you'll dine at the eternal feast.
English Standard Version (ESV)
For forty years, the Israelites ate manna from heaven. My kids eat chicken twice a week and complain that it's all we ever eat. They wouldn't have made it very far in the wilderness journey. Forty years -- manna every day of the week, with an occasional side of quail. If you were born early in the journey, you might have never tasted anything other than those two things throughout your life.
Even though manna was miraculous, it couldn't prevent the Israelites from dying in the wilderness. Manna was able to sustain them on their journey, but it couldn't provide beyond the wilderness.
Jesus, however, is able to sustain us beyond our present journey. It's not just about getting us through today -- Jesus is strengthening us for an eternal life, and he's also sacrificing himself. Jesus is literally dying to feed us, so that we might eat and be sustained for everything that is to come, in this life and beyond.
Today, you've likely given some thought to what you'll eat for lunch, and maybe you've even planned dinner. You want to avoid hunger, so you think ahead.
Have you given thought to how you'll make time for Jesus to sustain and strengthen you? Are you planning to set aside time to eat, to take him in and let him change you? Plan for it.. Prepare for it. And you'll dine at the eternal feast.
Monday, July 29, 2019
John 6:35-40
John 6:35-40
English Standard Version (ESV)
I was watching our 18 month old try and eat ice cream this evening and was amazed at her ability to get ice cream everywhere but her mouth. I tried to remove the lump of ice cream that was running down her neck, but she was insistent that she was saving it for later, which is a step up from her demands the other day that her shirt be removed after she spilled applesauce on it. She's learning to eat, and it's a messy process.
Which isn't that different from our attempts to learn how to eat the bread of life.
Jesus comes as the bread of life, and in so doing he reveals the will of God -- that everyone look upon the Son and be saved, raised on the last day from death and basking in eternal life through Jesus Christ. That's our destiny, and Jesus points out that he is not to lose anyone, which is a helpful point for the discussion about whether it's possible to lose our salvation. Jesus doesn't lose us, and he doesn't forget us like a set of car keys left behind somewhere -- he holds us tightly, now and forever.
But we still have to learn how to take in the bread of life, so that we learn how not to hunger. Our appetites convince us to hunger for many things in this life, and that hunger drives us to often do selfish and short-sighted things, things that can damage us or our relationships. Our hunger clouds our long term vision, so we learn, slowly, over a lifetime, how to consume the bread of life and allow Jesus to satiate our desires. We learn to feed daily, hourly even, so that the Spirit teaches and encourages us to focus on Jesus and allow him to fix our desires, so that we might understand what we truly need and what we do not.
So we're learning how to eat, and it can be messy and complicated, but over time, with patience, we grow into the people God is calling us to be.
English Standard Version (ESV)
I was watching our 18 month old try and eat ice cream this evening and was amazed at her ability to get ice cream everywhere but her mouth. I tried to remove the lump of ice cream that was running down her neck, but she was insistent that she was saving it for later, which is a step up from her demands the other day that her shirt be removed after she spilled applesauce on it. She's learning to eat, and it's a messy process.
Which isn't that different from our attempts to learn how to eat the bread of life.
Jesus comes as the bread of life, and in so doing he reveals the will of God -- that everyone look upon the Son and be saved, raised on the last day from death and basking in eternal life through Jesus Christ. That's our destiny, and Jesus points out that he is not to lose anyone, which is a helpful point for the discussion about whether it's possible to lose our salvation. Jesus doesn't lose us, and he doesn't forget us like a set of car keys left behind somewhere -- he holds us tightly, now and forever.
But we still have to learn how to take in the bread of life, so that we learn how not to hunger. Our appetites convince us to hunger for many things in this life, and that hunger drives us to often do selfish and short-sighted things, things that can damage us or our relationships. Our hunger clouds our long term vision, so we learn, slowly, over a lifetime, how to consume the bread of life and allow Jesus to satiate our desires. We learn to feed daily, hourly even, so that the Spirit teaches and encourages us to focus on Jesus and allow him to fix our desires, so that we might understand what we truly need and what we do not.
So we're learning how to eat, and it can be messy and complicated, but over time, with patience, we grow into the people God is calling us to be.
Friday, July 26, 2019
John 6:25-34
John 6:25-34
English Standard Version (ESV)
What do you fear losing most? Is it your job? Your savings? Your house? Your health?
However we answer that question, that's likely the food that we're working towards, the food that perishes. It doesn't mean that it's something bad -- it just means that we've lost sight of what is supposed to be our first work, which is to work, to strive, for a closer relationship with God. When we recognize how completely dependent we are on God and how much God is willing to sacrifice to be in a relationship with us, we dedicate our energy to putting God first, and then everything else falls into line. We can still love our job and our house and our health, but we see it through the lens of God, and so we are thankful for them as blessings and we can cope with losing them, because we know that we cannot lose the single most important thing in life.
Naturally, the followers asked what they should do to do the work of God. What did Jesus answer?
Our work is to believe.
There's a few ways to interpret this. One is to recognize that belief is hard -- it doesn't come easy or naturally. We are often skeptical, and to believe without certainty, without seeing the proof or evidence ourselves, can be challenging. It expects much of us as a thinking people -- so study the faith and learn the reasons why our faith is historically and intellectually reliable.
Secondly, we should approach our belief with as much importance as we approach a job. We shouldn't take faith for granted, squeezing it in to the open spots, but rather with the dedication and discipline that we would approach an important job. How we live out our faith matters.
All this means that belief can still be invigorating and exciting and alive and fun -- it isn't always, but it is and should be sometimes. We should get excited when we think about what God has done for us, and we should dream with wonder about what God has in store for us. Like Howard Carter peering into the tomb of King Tut, barely able to grasp what was before him, we should catch enough of a glimpse to say that we see wonderful things before us!
English Standard Version (ESV)
What do you fear losing most? Is it your job? Your savings? Your house? Your health?
However we answer that question, that's likely the food that we're working towards, the food that perishes. It doesn't mean that it's something bad -- it just means that we've lost sight of what is supposed to be our first work, which is to work, to strive, for a closer relationship with God. When we recognize how completely dependent we are on God and how much God is willing to sacrifice to be in a relationship with us, we dedicate our energy to putting God first, and then everything else falls into line. We can still love our job and our house and our health, but we see it through the lens of God, and so we are thankful for them as blessings and we can cope with losing them, because we know that we cannot lose the single most important thing in life.
Naturally, the followers asked what they should do to do the work of God. What did Jesus answer?
Our work is to believe.
There's a few ways to interpret this. One is to recognize that belief is hard -- it doesn't come easy or naturally. We are often skeptical, and to believe without certainty, without seeing the proof or evidence ourselves, can be challenging. It expects much of us as a thinking people -- so study the faith and learn the reasons why our faith is historically and intellectually reliable.
Secondly, we should approach our belief with as much importance as we approach a job. We shouldn't take faith for granted, squeezing it in to the open spots, but rather with the dedication and discipline that we would approach an important job. How we live out our faith matters.
All this means that belief can still be invigorating and exciting and alive and fun -- it isn't always, but it is and should be sometimes. We should get excited when we think about what God has done for us, and we should dream with wonder about what God has in store for us. Like Howard Carter peering into the tomb of King Tut, barely able to grasp what was before him, we should catch enough of a glimpse to say that we see wonderful things before us!
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