Daily Devotional • August 23
A Reading from John 6:27-40
27 Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away, 38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day. 40 This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Meditation
What a relatable question from Jesus’ disciples. “What must we do to perform the works of God?” The disciples had just witnessed the feeding of the five thousand earlier in chapter 6. Then they witness Jesus walking on water and calming a storm. Finally, a day later, the disciples work up the courage to ask “What must we do to perform the works of God?”
In Jesus-like fashion, he provides a simple and frustrating answer. He says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Just believe? I imagine this is not exactly the answer the disciples were seeking. In fact, Jesus doesn’t even answer their question. He simply explains what the work of God truly is — belief. Belief is where our lives with Christ truly begin.
One of my professors in college said that he would look into the mirror every morning and say to himself “There is no one who needs the gospel more than you today.” He was not against evangelism or outreach, he believed in the importance of sharing the gospel with those in our lives. But his point was that we need to remind ourselves that we need to hear the good news afresh each and every day. A life following Jesus Christ begins with hearing, knowing, loving, and truly believing the goodness and grace of God for ourselves. This is the work of God.
Steven McCain serves at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and St. Timothy’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He lives in the Raleigh area with his wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, Benjamin and James.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Ijebu – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Episcopal Diocese of Albany