The Work of God and the Will of God (Nov 30)

Verses for the day

• John 6:28-29 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
• John 6:38-40 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. … For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Thoughts

Today’s thoughts are a bit philosophical. Sorry about that. I hope you can follow my train of thought.

If the work of God is God Himself at work, that means there is no spiritual work for us to do ourselves! God is simply asking for us to believe He will do His work through us. The crowd who followed Jesus after the feeding of the 5000 were telling Jesus, “We want to perform the God’s works.” Jesus response was, you can’t! Only God can can do the work of God! Your work is to believe in the one He sent!

What was the work God sent Jesus to do? “It is the Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe should have eternal life.” The work God sent Jesus to do was to reveal the Father. (John 1:18) To make the one who was unseen, seen. To make the invisible God visible! Jesus says, I have come to do my Father’s will, not my own. I have come to make him known, seen and loved. Not to make a name for myself, or for people to love me!

Jesus has now left this job to us (2 Cor 5:20-21)! He is no longer here in person, but He is here in the hearts of each of us as believers. Our job is to believe in Him who lives in us. Not to live for our own will, but to live for the will of Him who redeemed us!

Prayer

Father, like those people who saw you feed the 5000, I want to do the work of God. Not because I want a name for myself, or want people to follow me. I want to be used by you to reveal what God is like! Here in John 6:28-29 you declare that the work I need to do is believe. To have unswerving faith in the one you have sent. The one who died in my place. The one who raised me to new life. But, this life is not one I live in the power of the flesh, this life is the resurrected life of Jesus living in me!

Thank you Father that it’s not up to me to represent you and to make you known. I am a pitiful failure and a horrible image of you in my flesh. Help me to continue to learn to say no to my flesh, no to my own will, as Jesus did, so that I can be fully available for you to display the Father through me.

I pray today for my children that their desire would be to be to make you known, seen and loved by how they live their lives. I pray they would have no interest or desire in making a name for themselves or popularity, or causing people to see them, but they would desire above all for people to see you through their lives. I pray they will see their primary work is to know you, to believe in the one you have sent, and to allow you to make Him known through their lives.