John 6:26-27a Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life
I see around town, every so often, signs advertising a music studio. In an effort to gain new students they have a promotional effort that offers a short introductory lesson on the instrument of your choice for $5 and it comes - with a toy! Clearly, (I hope) the target demographic are young kids! (I wonder if this works?)
Earlier in chapter six, we read that the crowds had been following Jesus around be-cause they were wanting to see Him heal the sick. So many were doing this that the crowd had grown to the size of a small town! Late in the day, the disciples were worried and suggested that they all be sent home. There certainly was no place for them to get food there! But Jesus had other plans. With a young boy’s lunch He fed 5,000 men, plus the women and children. And there were twelve basketfuls left over!
This was amazing! It must have immediately reminded them of Moses in the wilderness when God provided manna! Jesus was surely sent from God! They were seeing the sick made well; now the hungry were fed! But that was yesterday. Now the crowds were looking for Jesus again and He sized them up pretty quickly. They were only coming for another meal.
A lot of people seem to be interested in God for what He can give them. They, or a loved one, have a terrible diagnosis. They have been looking for a job. The list can be long. These are not things that Jesus doesn’t care about. But they are not the things He cares the most about. He has come to bring eternal life. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to live a perfect life, die a sinner’s death, and be raised again to new life all that we might know Him and live in harmony with Him.
But we can have our eyes so fixed on the here and now that we lose sight of Jesus’ plans. In fact, we might, if the truth were told, not have all that much to do with Jesus. Our lives are okay, but we want to see a healing. We want to be fed. We want a job. We want a toy.
Please don’t misunderstand. God does care about our day to day life. But Jesus told the people in today’s verse that they (and we) should seek Him. Not for the thing on our minds, not the answer to the latest problem, but for the eternal life He came to provide for us. Those other things may come. God does answer prayer. But too often they become the focus, the goal, of our encounter with God. Rather than relationship with God itself.
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount - Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
