WHY DO YOU SEEK JESUS?

John 6:22-40

“Do not labour for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the son of man will give you...” John 6:22.

So one late afternoon Jesus fed five thousand people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, many of them ate to their full satisfaction without even thinking about where the food came from. The next day, Jesus and his disciples had travelled to Capernaum so the people got into boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

The human eyes only see the appearance of man but Jesus seeing their hearts said, “Truly I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw the sign but because you ate the food I gave you and were filled”.

What a discerner of hearts Jesus is!

The truth is a lot of us including me; often times in all our seeking, seek after physical things more than spiritual things. Even when seeking God in prayer.  Check you prayer list for clues!

The people were seeking Jesus, yes, but not for the right reasons. Not because they had seen the sign or believed that He is the son of God but because their physical needs was met. 

Many of us today do the same and I am particularly guilty of this (that’s why I’m writing this post). Often times when it comes to our physical and present needs such as:  finding a job, deciding which career path to pursue, finding that husband/wife, providing food for family etc we seek God in prayer and do so diligently and rightly. But how many of us truly seek God for Him? To know Him? What percentage of our prayer requests are for our spiritual and eternal welfare and that of our family and friends?

I am not saying that there’s something wrong with praying to God for our physical needs to be met – no. In fact, countless of times in His Word, He encourages us to rely on Him for our needs:

 

Matt 6:11 – Give us this day our daily bread

 

Matt 6:31- So don’t worry about what you shall eat or what you shall drink or wear. For the pagans run after all these things but your heavenly Father knows that you need them”

Philippians 4: 6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your cares/anxiety unto him for he cares for you.

But, let us seek God for God, let us seek that which is eternal and imperishable not just our present and physical needs. I have been truly guilty like the people in John 6:22 – seeking Jesus because I ate of the loaves and was filled.

Let us labour with the strength God gives us but not just for food that will perish but also for the imperishable things.

 

Poem: WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS?

What manner of man is this?

For the ungodly he died

For the enemy he offered reconciliation

For his haters he showed love

He would rather die for his enemy

Than see him incur a punishment he rightly deserved.

What manner of man is this?

 He stands at the door of my house

Calling

‘Peace, Peace!’

‘Peace, I bring to you!’

I don’t normally open the door to strangers

But there is something about this man

He stands outside

Gently knocking

“I have come to dine with you’, he exclaims.

What a strange man!

I needed to satisfy my curiosity

‘Come in’, I opened the door.

His smile is mesmerising

The beauty of his eyes bring warmth to my house

He embraces me so tightly

As though he has known me all my life

As though I was his best friend and he was mine

He holds me as though he is reading my mind

And knows I need a hug

What manner of man is this?

‘Sir, I have no food or drink’, I said, nervously.

He looked deep into my eyes, as though looking into the well of my soul

And said, ‘Child thirst no more, I have water,’

‘What?  Sir I don’t see anything in your hand’ I responded.

‘Hunger no more; I am the bread of life

All we need for dinner is here!’ he continued.

What manner of man is this?

 

He says he his the son of God

The bread of life

The fountain of living water

The way, the truth, the life

The bright and morning star

He says he’s a redeemer,

The lamb that was slaughtered

The light of the world

The beginning and the end

The Word

What manner of man this?

The more he speaks

The more I feel free

Turned the glass of water I had into wine

And multiplied one loaf of bread I had in my fridge

What manner of man is this?

 

‘I have a gift for you’, he declares

‘Who gives free gifts these days, what exactly does this man want?’ I wondered to myself.

I give this is gift to anyone who wants it and asks for it

Kings and slaves alike

Rich and poor

To those who receive this free gift and open it

I give them a new status

Be it a prince or a servant

A new status? For both the poor and the rich?

Yes, my child...Justified!

What manner of man is this that he changes the status of both kings and slaves?

Declaring both justified and both his

The day I let him into my house I have never been the same

His presence changed my house

His words set me free

He declared me

Justified!

And now I am His!

What manner of man is this?

 © Copyright of BW (penname: LadyBee) 
 

TIME TO GET THE SHOVEL AND DIG OUT THE DREAM YOU'VE BURIED!

 

 What Dreams/Goals Have You buried?

 

I recently decided to go through the journals I kept as a teenager and wow what bitter sweet memories.  Reading my journals caused me to realise that somehow, somewhere along the road of life, I packed my dreams in a box, put them aside and later buried them.  See when I was younger all I wanted to do was write songs, poetry, sing and dance and I wouldn’t say I was spectacularly brilliant at them but I loved to sing, I wrote amateur poetry and danced and took drama at school. I held on to these dreams through my teenage years but something happened along the way, because that girl who believed she could be and do anything she wanted or dreamed of somehow disappeared. I feel so alienated from her. Where did she go? Where did I bury my dreams and why?

 

When I look at myself in the mirror all I see now is a young adult who is scared to dream, afraid to fail, scared to try. Everyday I wake up and choke that little girl. I give myself a hundred and ten reasons why it’s a bad idea to go after these dreams. I have become my own worst enemy! If I am not unfairly comparing myself to others, I am talking down at myself. I tell myself, ‘you can’t write or sing, so don’t bother’ or ‘these things are for the people in the world, I am in the world, not of it’ or ‘if I go after these dreams, I will become like the people in the world, I will stop pursuing spiritual living and become prideful and boastful, so to prevent that lets forget about this dream’. HOW DARE YOU!  I want to stare at myself in the mirror and scream ‘HOW DARE YOU!’

Yes, I have seen a lot of gifted and talented men and women in the faith who have become prideful, people raised in the church, who now deny God and have turned to everything worldly. That scares me! I would rather lose my dream, be unhappy, anything than lose my relationship with God or deny God and turn to the world.

 But, since when did God say it’s okay to be cowardly and faithless? Since when did God start delighting in people who don’t believe and obey His Word? Didn’t David write poetry? Didn’t he dance and play the harp? And who told me it was okay to compare myself with others? What do I stand to gain in doing that? 

You see, because I told myself “I am not good enough, I am not like this person I could never succeed. People will laugh at me in my face and behind my back if they knew this was my dream” I didn’t truly invest the time, resources in developing myself to become better at what I love to do. I buried my dreams, tried to justify it and made no attempt to develop myself in these areas. Instead I settled for singing quietly and timidly in the church choir, “hey at least am still singing, so am serving God!” I settled. “The choir will do”, I reasoned. I was afraid whenever the choir director will ask me to come to the front, take a mic and sing into it.

Paul, Apostle of Jesus said to Timothy “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you”. Then in his second letter to Timothy, it seemed as though Timothy forgot what Paul told him so Paul repeated it again saying “...I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands for the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline”.

If you are like me and have buried your dreams or settled when you know there is more, please I plead with you, don’t give up! Please join me, let us give our dreams a try. Get your shovel and dig up that dream, that vision, that goal. Don’t give up! If we fail, we fail! But if we don’t try, what a great tragedy that will be! I plead with you, yes you! Try...Don’t give up!

 

I have prayed to God about this and I continue to pray, I ask God for discernment and spirit if wisdom, and his guidance because more than living my dream, I want to live for Him. I want to follow Christ and obey His Word.

*And if you don’t know Christ Jesus and you are reading this blog, I just want to say, the first step to fulfilling your full potential in life starts with Christ. That’s the ultimate truth!