CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 818

“The Work of God”

John 6:28 (ESV) Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

—————————————————————————————-

We are a busy people.  So many of us in the first half of our lives spend our health seeking wealth only to wind up spending our wealth seeking health in the second half.

Our busyness is all about doing instead of being and it permeates every aspect of our lives from our family home life to recreation, work and church.

Our society values the doers: the movers and the shakers.  The world system defines us by what we do and what we have accomplished.  Our resume is our pedigree and it defines our value and worth.  In God’s economy all that is turned upside down and opposite of the world system.  God is more concerned with our being versus our doing.  To do the primary work of God requires that we believe in Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him.  We are to be a follower of Jesus and not a fan of Him.

The God who made the world and everything in it … is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’- Acts 17:24

Oswald Chambers wrote in his devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, “Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?”

Our intentions can be honorable and good in what we do.  We can work to provide the best of everything for our family.  We can coach kids’ sports and teach and serve in the church.  We can start a Christian business dedicated to the glory of God.  Yet in all these doings we can miss the boat completely by neglecting the first priority of a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

God loves us ‘doers’ enough to ‘pull the rug out from under us’ and send us into the wilderness for a season where we can develop a deeper, more personal relationship with Jesus built upon trust in Him.  It is during these wilderness experiences where God equips us for His call to do later in life by first developing our relationship of ‘being’ through trust and abiding with Him.  Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah and Jesus all experienced a season in the wilderness as God developed and equipped them for His call to ministry.

… Mary… sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42

May you seek first His kingdom and righteousness – having your being in Him.  May your doing be empowered by the abiding presence of the Lord in response to His call and equipping rather than your own best intentions and ability.  May you live and move and have your being in Christ.