“My
food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to
finish his work.” John 4:34
I find this to be a very powerful
declaration! How encouraging it is to the Christian soul!
Consider the scripture
quoted above. Jesus had not eaten anything up to this time of day. The
disciples knew therefore that Jesus was hungry; so, they brought Him some
food and asked Him to spare some time to eat.
But
note Jesus’ response!
First Jesus told the
disciples that He had food to eat that they did not know anything about. Of
course, the disciples would not have known anything about the food Jesus
referred to because they had never considered it to be food; this is why they
wondered if somebody had already brought Jesus some food to eat.
Then Jesus explained, “My food… is to do the will of him who sent
me and to finish his work.” John 4:34
Jesus’ response
challenges me to the bone!
Just imagine how
important food is. Food gives us energy; it keeps us active. Food maintains our
health and all our body parts in perfect form and functionality. Food gives us
life; without it, nobody survives.
That is the importance of
physical food to human beings.
Yet Jesus, in my view,
takes this to be a lower level in the food category. There is a higher level of
‘food’, the one that has to be taken ahead of lunch and dinner! Man shall not
live by bread alone; I now understand this better.
What was Jesus’ favorite food? It was “to do the will of him who
sent Him and to finish His work.” What a mindset!
Doing the will of God
should be the Christian’s favorite food. Not pizza! Not burgers! Not ice
cream!
Check this. Jesus
effectively said, “I get energy from
doing the will of God. I function better when I am in the will of God. I am
alive only to the extent that I am functioning within the will of God. I get
the strength and the desire to go on with life only when I am in the perfect
will of God. Earthly life is meaningless if I operate outside of the will of
God.”
Something like that did Jesus teach His disciples.
A mindset to emulate,
isn’t it?