Food For The Soul.3

"Do not work for the food that perishes, 

but for the food that endures to eternal life, 

which the Son of Man will give to you. 

For on him God the Father has set his seal."

--Jesus

Tuesdays and Thursdays are "kill days" at the farm where I work.  Usually on Wednesday afternoon we go out to the "kill cow" herd to select one or two steers for their fate. 

Sometimes we spend an enormous amount of "work" pursuing and capturing the targeted food source.  Because our plant is "USDA Certified" an inspector is on site (he even has his own office in the plant) to ensure that proper procedures are followed that earn the coveted "seal of approval" from the federal government.

Our onsite inspector can be a real pain to work with but

trusting in the USDA seal saves the average consumer a lot of work!  I can hardly imagine the logistical nightmare of having customers coming through the "kill floor" to ensure that their meat purchases are safe!

Nor would the average consumer, without some knowledge of safe meat handling techniques, know what mistakes can cause contamination, sickness and death.

Do you find it as breathtaking as I do how Jesus takes simple concepts we live with daily, even things we take for

granted, like the effort it takes to get our daily sustenance, and uses them to teach us eternal truth?  Think of the enormous freedom we have in trusting Jesus, whom God the Father placed His "seal of approval" on in eliminating the toilsome, even futile, effort to do enough good "work" to earn a spot in His Kingdom.

Since Jesus made it clear that His "food" was to do God's will, it makes perfect sense that the food we ought to work for is learning and doing God's will, following His faithful footsteps to the heart of His father!

Think of what Jesus' seal of approval means for His followers:

• A man's business is to do the will of God
• God takes upon Himself the care of the man
• The God-cared for man must never be afraid of anything
• The God-cared for man is left free to love God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself.

"What work,' I ask, 'can that be which will be better done by the greedy or anxious than by the free, fearless soul? Can care be a better inspirer of labor than knowing you are sent by God? If the work is not His work, then indeed, care may well help it, for its success is loss. But is he worthy the name of man who, for the fear of starvation, will do better work than for the joy that his labor is not in vain in the Lord?"  MacDonald, The Complete Works of George MacDonald.

Be free and fearless follower of Jesus to do your work with joy!

The Living Word.8

I do not pass judgment on those who hear these words and do not believe; for I have not come to judge the world, but to rescue it.

Be warned; those that reject my words will be held accountable: the truth that I have spoken will stand as their judge on the last day.

--Jesus

I'm 5'4". If you factor pygmies and NBA giants I am "average" height. 

The"truth" of my existence, however, is that I wasn't destined to receive pinpoint passes for high flying thunder dunks!

Truthfully, as I approach the age 63, I still have nagging doubts about my Being. I have been a child, son, student, actor, athlete, musician, husband, father, clerk, salesman, laborer, printer, designer, business owner, pastor, teacher, bus driver, carpenter, farm hand.

The measure of my success has not been thunderous ovations from adoring fans, but it has been regular paychecks I received from -generally speaking- ambivalent employers for the work I produced.  In one way, my Being was "judged" by those who used my varied skill set to achieve their goals.

As satisfying as it can be to be rewarded for labor produced (with the fruit of that labor I raised a family and achieved some of my own goals) there is still a longing to know and experience greater success. Not bigger paychecks or louder applause, but the knowledge that my Being mattered; that there was a truth to my existence for which I will be eternally satisfied!

The ultimate success, according to Jesus, is how our "Being" measured up to Truth.  Not that we merely spoke accurate facts or didn't lie but that as MacDonald states:
by "obeying the Will that is the cause of our Being,
the cause that demands us to be true, and that Will being

• Righteousness and
• Love and
• Truth

we begin to stand on the apex of our being, to know ourselves divine and feel ourselves free."

When a man is, with his whole nature, loving and willing the truth, he is then a live truth.

He is the thing God created him to be.

Dr. Jordan Petersen, professor of clinical psychology, observes:

"At the beginning of time, according to the great Western tradition, the Word of God [logos] transformed chaos into Being through the act of speech. We also transform chaos into Being, through speech. We transform the manifold possibilities of the future into the actualities of past and present. To tell the truth is to bring the most habitable reality into Being.

• Truth builds edifices that can stand a thousand years.
• Truth feeds and clothes the poor, and makes nations wealthy and safe.
• Truth reduces the terrible complexity of a man to the simplicity of his word, so that he can become a partner, rather than an event."

-Dr Jordan Petersen, 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote for Chaos

MacDonald expands on this "partnership":

"But a man has not originated this in himself. He has seen it and striven for it, but not originated it.

The one originating, living, visible truth, embracing all truths in all relations, is Jesus Christ.

He is true; he is the live Truth.

When a man is true, if he were in hell he could not be miserable. He is right with himself because he is right with him whence he came.

To be right with God is to be right with the universe; one with

• the power,
• the love,
• the will of the mighty Father,

the cherisher of joy, the lord of laughter, whose are all glories, all hopes, who loves everything, and hates nothing but selfishness,

which he will not have in his kingdom."

Adapted From Unspoken Sermons III, The Truth

When I proposed marriage to my wife many years ago I told her that my one ambition in life was to do the will of God no matter where that might lead. His will has lead us to many places, with many chapters beginning with great promise and ending, more often than not, leaving my 5'4" frame battered and bruised wondering whether I'd missed a turn along the way.

For the way of His Will is not lined with cheering crowds urging us on. It is often dark and foggy, lonely and fearful with the only thing we can occasionally get glimpses of is the Savior in front beckoning us on into the light until we begin to see that following His Will is not simply altering our direction as we mentally brace ourselves for some new duty, but loving the Will that brought us safely to where we are. Stronger, Godlier, more manifestly True than when we started.

To be rescued from meaninglessness is the cry of every human heart!

To stand in the day and hear the thunderous ovation of an audience of One is the reason we're born!