"Jesus or his stuff?"
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval." (John 6:26, 27 NLT)
Jesus' words get at the heart so quickly. He understands not only our behavior but our hearts & motives. He knows our deepest desires & even our tendencies.
He tells us here, "Don't spend your energy on the temporary but on eternal things." We have the tendency to spend our energy on things that don't last. We wear ourselves out trying to fill the eternal with the temporary & we wonder why we lack deep fulfillment.
Do a quick survey of a typical week. How many activities are temporary & require energy that won't be replenished? And how many are eternal that energize us for God's kingdom?
We are like these people here too in that we are drawn to Jesus because of some temporary fix that he gives us, rather than with him because of him. Jesus knows they are with him only because their bellies got full. But that feeling of fullness will only last hours & Jesus wants them to see the need for a deeper food to fill a deeper hunger.
But Jesus won't be used. We are not following Jesus if all we want are his physical, temporary blessings. Following Jesus means a perspective & passion for the eternal. It reveals a heart for him, not for his stuff.
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