We live in a world obsessed with finding energy, motivation, and purpose. Energy drinks, life coaches, motivational quotes - everyone's looking for that thing that will fuel them through life. But what if I told you that Jesus found His energy in something completely different?
John 4:32-34 "But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples were saying to one another, 'No one brought him anything to eat, did they?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.'"
Picture the scene: Jesus has been walking for six hours. He's weary, tired, hungry. The disciples go into town to grab Him food but when they return, Jesus tells them He says, ”I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
They're confused - "Who brought this guy a falafel?"
Here's Jesus's answer: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."
When you're hungry and weak, you need to be invigorated with nourishment. But there was something invigorating Jesus and providing Him with energy even though He wasn't eating.
What was giving Jesus life?
Doing the will of His Father.
You've probably tasted this to some extent on a human level. You get so engaged with something that you lose sight of the fact that you haven't eaten all day. But for Jesus Christ, who was the full embodiment of what obedience to the Father looks like, the spring in His step wasn't the product of an energy drink but the joy that came from doing the work of His Heavenly Father.
Much of us know the will of the Father, but it's an entirely different thing to do the will of the Father. For example, we know we're commanded to let our light shine, to live sacrificially, to live generously, to be committed to the people of God. But it doesn't matter if we know the will of God if we do not do the will of God.
Jesus will say in John 17:4, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work that you gave to me." When Jesus dies, His final breath declares, "It is finished" - because everything the Father had given Him to do, He completed.
According to Jesus, living in obedience to the will of God is life-giving, soul satisfying, and energizing.
1. What energizes you most in life? Is it aligned with doing God's will?
2. Are you someone who knows God's will but struggles to consistently do it? What's holding you back?
3. How can you shift from just starting faithfully to finishing faithfully in the work God has given you?
Stay dialed in,
Jonny Ardavanis