John 6: 28 – 29
They said therefore to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
This week’s devotionals have touched on the “works of God.” We have mentioned briefly what they are not but in today’s passage Jesus tells us, succinctly, what the works of God are. The work of God is to believe in Christ whom God sent. It is easy to brush over this statement without giving it a great deal of thought but it is a key element in living a devoted and holy life, a life set apart. This statement should have Selah behind it meaning stop and think on this soberly before you move on.
In our flesh, we are creatures of action. The question we often pose is, “What am I to do?” Within that question is a presumption that the answer will contain an action verb. The answer Jesus gives us is that what we are to “do” is to believe. This is a tough answer for many of us. We are fixers. We want to engage our energy, our personalities and the strength in our bodies to “do” something. Our comfort zone is in reverting to “the work of our hands.” “Let me do something to fix this or to move this project forward.” It is very counter-intuitive that the response is to “do” nothing in the action sense of the word. Instead we are to be still and let God be God. Our part is to believe in the one whom He sent. This requires us to be actors in the realm of the Spirit rather than acting in the physical realm. How very odd and uncomfortable that is.
Let us take this one step further. What if the question posed is, “How do I please God?” Many of us have answered that question for ourselves with, “Do the works of God.” What are the works of God? To believe in His son. We usually rush off doing all sorts of “Good Works” but never please God because we have not done what He requires. He has called us all to become believers. This only happens in the still quiet of your prayer room. It is much more comfortable for us to run out and do something than to sit quietly with our Bibles and our Lord. The result is that we are becoming a body of doers rather than a body of believers. If you really want to please God, if you truly want to do the work of God then take the time to get alone with Him and build on your belief. Few of us are at the stage of believing to which God has called us. Once we develop our believing we will be able to accomplish more in our prayer closets than we ever could in running around “working.”
The Kingdom of God is in the spiritual realm. Therefore, in order to do the work of the kingdom you too will need to operate in the spiritual realm. Fear not though for Jesus is the king of this realm and your own big brother and personal confidant. Let him lead you and instruct you. Listen to him before you move. Inquire of him in all things. Then you will find your right path. Take some time to develop your spirit through prayer, study and meditation. Increase in believing. This is the work of God.