Jesus told them, “This
is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29
This ties in with
yesterday’s post about demands and commands and the stark difference between
them.
God gave the Hebrew
people pages worth of instructions about how to live (The Ten Commandments),
eat (Kosher laws), worship (how to build God’s temple), and make offerings
(only unblemished male animals and first fruits). A quick glance through the
Old Testament reveals there are many more instructions for life as a Jewish
person. It took a lot of work to live according to these instructions.
I have to wonder if
God set up religion just so it would fail right into the arms of Jesus.
Why would believing Jesus
has been sent by God be considered work especially since such belief is given
to us by God?
Is this because God gives us this re-birthday
gift but we need to unwrap it?
There is much in my
life that has appeared because of faith. The blog/studying God’s Word is one
aspect. Some might call it a daily devotional. Playing on the worship team and
making time to practice is another. Attending church on a Sunday and small
group on a Wednesday is important to me as well. None of this has been forced
on me. I do these things because I have chosen to take advantage of
opportunities…although (and I have shared this before)I did get a very clear
sense that God was adamant I join the worship team, much to my dismay at the
time. This was waaay outside my comfort zone.
(I probably keep
sharing the worship team story because I am amazed at how it has transformed my
life and how it continues to be
transforming!)
A rather irreverent chuckle
escaped here because I am in good company with this sort of discomfort. Moses
was totally uncomfortable with what God asked of him, too! It’s more of a point
that he chose to obey the great I AM although not always. He was human after
all.
But do I consider my
involvement with different faith practices to be work? Not one bit. Are they
acts of discipline? Yup. But these disciplines are also the fruits of an
insatiable curiosity and a love of puzzle solving. They are the fruits of my
burning desire to understand the “why” of everything. They are the fruits of
years of music lessons and band playing. They are the fruits of a growing understanding that faith
in Jesus is not a solo act but one of community and relationships.
There has been a
harvest of joy in all of it because God planted the seeds. From my gardening
experience, seed planting and getting them to grow is the hardest work of all.
(Smile.)
A seed won’t grow if
we keep digging it up to see if it has sprouted.
Umm…Lord? Maybe we
need to work on patience...smile.
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