The Father.2

"No one knows who the Son of God is, except the Father in heaven; 

and no one can know who the Father is, except the Son; 
and those to whom the Son will reveal him. 

Until now you have not known him as I do; but I have come, sent from him to you." 

-Jesus

A Duty To Know

There is a nearly perfect icebreaker for small group discussions called "The Quaker Questions" that really help people get to know one another. The questions go like this:

1. Between the ages of 7-12 where did you live and how many siblings do you have?
2. During that same time period, what transportation did your family use?
3. Who were you personally closest to during that time period?
4. At what point in your life did God become more than a name for you?

The answer to the last question reveals the many ways God makes Himself known to people. Whether its a magnificent mountain view, an inspirational speaker, a brush with death, a terror in the night, an enlightened moment when the Word of God came alive, the vast majority have some point in life when an event happened that the only way to account for it was in seeing some aspect of God made real.

Jesus reproached people, especially those who considered themselves spiritual guides, for not perceiving the character and calling of God revealed in the Son of God.

Do people have, in fact, a duty to see God in Jesus? Could we see Him were He to visit this planet in physical form today? Would we be such that He would care to reveal himself? Who are those He would and could reveal Himself to?

Now, as then, it would of course be the childlike in heart, the truest, the least selfish. 

It would not be:

• the highest in the estimation of man or church
• those intent on knowing Jesus' history rather than knowing Jesus' heart 
• neither necessarily denominational or non-denominational churchman
• no one with so little of the mind of Christ as to imagine Him caring about stupid outside matters
• not the man who holds fast to his 'plans of salvation', systematic theology, or legalistic rules of righteousness
• not the one who refuses the leading of God's Spirit to take him to unfamiliar places
• those barren of soul who cannot receive the meaning and will of the Master because they will not do what the Master tells them

But it would be:

• those who are most like the Master in helping, healing and saving
• that do the Will of the Father
• that build their house on the Rock by daily putting His words into practice

The question today as then: "Are there enough like Him to know Him at once by the sound of His voice, by the look of His face?"

There are multitudes who would at once be taken by a false Christ fashioned after their fancy, and would at once reject the Lord as a poor impostor. One thing is certain: they who first recognized Him would be those that most loved righteousness and hated iniquity!

Let us be those people!

(adapted from The Knowing Of The Son, Unspoken Sermons III, George MacDonald)

The Father.1

"What do you think of Jesus Christ? Whose Son is he?"

--Jesus

I recently did what every modern American is relentlessly badgered to do: find out whether 15 minutes could save me 15% on car insurance!

Lo and behold I actually saved over 50%! And my new auto insurance provider said I could save EVEN MORE!!! All I need to do is put a little "tracking device" in my car so they can "monitor" my driving habits for 90 days! They assured me they would only be watching four items: braking, acceleration, miles driven and night time driving. Not where I stop for lunch, who I flip off in the lane next to me, or how I react when I spill coffee on myself!  


The device is now discretely attached inside my car.  The smiley faces on my phone app tell me I'm doing a good job and proudly shows me trip by trip the wonderful savings I'm going to enjoy when this exercise is over. (Don't tell my wife but I'm already thinking about the fun things I'm going to do with all this extra money!)

It occurred to me after listening to a recent podcast featuring host Ben Shapiro and his guest Scott Adams, author of the comic strip Dilbert, that even though, presumably, a human being set up the computer algorithm to track my driving habits, no human will ever see this data unless requested. The reality is that a machine is going to assess my driver skills and bequeath the savings I've "earned".

The reason I referenced the Shapiro podcast is that the day's conversation centered on modern politics and specifically the communication skills of the current president.  Adams made a rather chilling prediction: (paraphrased) whenever Donald Trump's presidential term comes to an end, it will be the last of free elections.  Just as computer algorithms dramatically influence the public's buying decisions (like saving more money on car insurance by allowing yourself to be monitored by a machine), so they will dramatically influence political candidate choices."

The question philosophers are aggressively grappling with in today's internet connected world is: do people really have "free will?"  It is an age old question but the information age has added a whole new layer of complexity to the debate.

Why? Because our perception of what we think we do is usually woefully skewed from the reality of what we actually do. That is not new, but how we spend our life's resources -time, talent and treasures- has a brand new way of being measured! For example, in the past if you really wanted an accurate understanding of how you spend your money you could tally your purchases from your checkbook/bank/credit card statement over the past six months!  (NO WAY I spent that much money on Starbucks!)

But in today's world all that activity is being recorded on The Web! When called into question on some or other activity, such as browsing Facebook while on the timeclock at work, we would vehemently dispute how much time we actually take vs what we perceive (especially if we were being docked pay!)  But Facebook knows and Google knows.  And people who engineer our growing addiction to all things technological know.  

Now we are discovering that they are not only engineering our buying habits but our social values. Organizations like Dennis Prager's PragerU are suing YouTube for pulling conservative commentary. Twitter has admitted to "shadow banning" certain speech. Facebook is working overtime to make censoring "hate speech" a moral imperative.

Something else that is not new: man's desire to be the savior of other people!

I think a better question regarding free will, then, is this: "Do individuals really know themselves?" For as the prophet Jeremiah laments: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" True freedom is acknowledging that we really don't know ourselves and truly need a Savior.  Just not the man-made kind!

So the question Jesus posed to his disciples millennia ago is ever more relevant today: 
"What do you think of Jesus Christ?"
By walking with Him, trusting in Him and obeying His word we can truly know and save ourselves from engineered manipulation of both the well intentioned and nefarious.

Food For The Soul.6

"Are you thirsting spiritually? Come to me and drink; for they that believe in me, as it has been written, "Out of their innermost being will flow rivers of living water.""

--Jesus

The farm where I now am employed raises grass fed cows and organic crops. There is much "ritual" in securing the certification of Organic Farm, including filing vast amounts of paperwork and yearly inspections to prove the farm has followed the regulations defining "organic" to the letter.

Beyond making the decision to eat food that is chemical free (and more expensive), the average consumer knows little of the extra effort it takes to produce food labeled "organic".

But the average American is highly insulated from the many issues involved in raising food for human consumption. For example, there is not a day on the farm where weather is not a factor in effecting the timing of pasture management, planting, tilling or harvesting crops. This blissful ignorance has its casualties on a culture. One Arizona farmer commenting on the effects of a recent drought in the southwest United States wondered, with tear filled eyes, if Americans pray much anymore.

Droughts come in a variety of forms. Man-made economic droughts that produce starvation on a horrific scale, such as the people of Yemeni are experiencing now in their conflict with Saudi Arabia, or Venezuala's courtship with communism, are examples of droughts of principled compassion.

Another form of drought is, of course, lack of or too much rain. One thing I've learned on the farm is that soil condition has much to do with the land's capacity to use the moisture it receives. Fields must be managed to hold or drain the water they receive.

However, spiritual drought may in fact be the worst kind of all! That is, when people abandon our essential relationship with, and dependence on, God's providence.

Rain is a symbol of God's grace and without it every calamity which usually follows from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, and pestilence. Rain is also the symbol of God's favor "Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3.

That the Lord will come; it has been the faith of all the saints, the Lord comes to fulfill every word that has spoken in its season.

To help humans overcome their tendency toward ungratefulness, indifference and arrogant self-reliance, God instituted a variety of Old Testament festivals for the Jewish people to celebrate. Bible teacher Ray Vander Laan describes these festivals and how, unbeknownst to the participants, they were actually preparing for God's coming in Jesus to earth!

Jewish Feasts

In the Old Testament, God instituted a religious calendar for the Israelites to follow. Within each year, there were seven specified feasts (Lev. 23), four in the spring and three each fall. Through these feasts, the Jewish people celebrated their history, their faith, and the blessings of God. Through Jesus' life, the hope of each feast was fulfilled in a dramatic way.

Passover

Why

To remember God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, when God passed over Israelite children and killed the firstborn of every Egyptian family.

When

In the spring, on the 14th day of the 1st month

What Happened

Most Jews traveled to Jerusalem for celebration of Passover. Each family brought a spotless lamb to the Temple for sacrifice. These lambs reminded the Israelites of the lamb that was eaten on the night they were delivered from Egypt. The lamb also reminded Israelites of the blood price that must be paid for their sin.

Connection to Jesus

Luke 2 records the story of Jesus and his family traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Jesus slaughtered the family's lamb, an action that meant he was recognized as a responsible member of the spiritual community. Later, Jesus died on the cross at the exact moment of the Passover sacrifice. Like the Passover lamb, none of his bones were broken, and his blood made the final atonement for the sins of the world.

Unleavened Bread

Why

To remember the escape from Egypt and God's provision of bread from the earth

When

In the spring, on the 15th day of the 1st month >
What Happened

The feast began by offering the first sheaf of grain to God through a special ceremony in the Temple sanctuary (Lev. 23:10-11). Another aspect of this feast involved the baking of unleavened bread, called matzo. God commanded that the Israelites eat only unleavened bread for seven days after Passover as a reminder of their sudden deliverance from Egypt, when their bread literally had no time to rise.

Connection to Jesus

Jesus burial coincided with the offering of the first grain. During his ministry Jesus described himself as "the bread of life. In God's faithfulness, he provided the true "Bread of Life" from the earth by raising Jesus' body from the grave.

First Fruits

Why

To celebrate God's gift of harvest

When

In the spring, 15th day of 1st month

What Happened

Israelites sacrificed the first part of their harvest, flocks, and earned money in recognition that God was the giver of every good thing. The people also acknowledged God's ownership of the land by bringing seven fruits to the Temple. One of these fruits included the pomegranate, a crop easily destroyed by foul weather. By giving these first fruits to God, the Israelites expressed their dependence on him and their trust that he would provide the rest of the harvest.

Connection to Jesus

The Feast of First Fruits coincided with Jesus' resurrection. When Jesus' followers returned to the tomb on the morning of the celebration, it was open and empty. Jesus became the first fruits of those raised from the dead

Shavuot - The Feast of Weeks

Why

Thanksgiving for the end of harvest and the anniversary of receiving the Law

When

50 days after Passover

What Happened

Joyful crowds gathered on the Southern Stairs, brought their offerings of wheat to the Temple, and celebrated the good harvest God had given. In Jewish tradition, true thankfulness to God was best shown by giving to others. So when the grain was harvested, the corners of the field were left standing to be gleaned by the poor. The people also celebrated the giving of the Law. This ritual paralleled Israel's history, which began with deliverance from Egypt on Passover and concluded when they received the Law.

Connection to Jesus

Shavuot coincides with Pentecost. Some scholars believe that the arrival of the Holy Spirit may have taken place on the Temple's Southern Stairs where the pilgrims gathered. Luke 24:53 states that the disciples remained in the Temple every day after Jesus' ascension to praise God. Peter was enabled to speak many languages, which would have made the gospel understandable to the people of varying backgrounds who traveled to Jerusalem for Shavuot

Rosh Hashana

Why

To prepare for God's judgment

When

In the fall, on the 1st day of the 7th month

What Happened

Rosh Hashana celebrated the beginning of a new religious year. The people celebrated by attending religious services and considering God's sovereignty and his future day of judgment. The shofar was blown-a sound that reminded Jewish people of their ancient past, God's great power, and their call for faithfulness in his coming judgment.

Connection to Jesus

Jesus, in keeping with this tradition, described a coming judgment that will be announced by the blowing of the shofar (Matt. 24:31).

Yom Kippur

Why

A day for the nation to seek forgiveness. God passed judgment of the people onto a scapegoat

When

In the fall, 10th day of the 7th month

What Happened

In preparation for Yom Kippur, the people fasted as a form of self-denial, repentance, and confession of sin before God. On the feast day, a priest entered the Most Holy Place and God appeared in a cloud over the ark of the covenant. Blood from sacrificed animals was sprinkled on the Most Holy Place and the altar to atone for the sins of priests. The high priest then placed his hands on the head of a scapegoat, symbolically transferring the sins of the people onto the goat. Subsequently, the scapegoat was taken out into the wilderness to die, symbolizing that God had forgiven the people's sins.

Connection to Jesus

The New Testament describes how the Day of Atonement applies to the death of Jesus: Jesus' blood, instead of the blood of the goat, now symbolizes atonement (Heb. 9:11-14). The death of Jesus fulfilled the ancient role of the scapegoat; through Jesus' death, sins are truly forgiven.

Sukkoth - Feast of Tabernacles

Why

To remember when the Jewish people lived in the wilderness before entering Canaan.

When

In the fall, on the 15th day of the 7th month.

What Happened

God commanded that booths be constructed to remind the Israelites of their history of wilderness living. The Israelites ate their meals and prayed in these booths for seven days as a reminder of God's protective care. Succoth took place at the end of the dry season and was coupled with a water ceremony and fervent prayer for next year's rains. Solomon dedicated the Temple during Sukkoth as a fitting picture of God coming to live among his people.

Connection to Jesus

In the context of Succoth, Jesus dramatically presented his message. On the "last and greatest day of the Feast," in the midst of the water ceremony and prayers for God to send water, Jesus proclaimed, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37-38). Some scholars also believe Jesus was born around Sukkoth, which would be a fitting picture of Jesus "tabernacling" among his people.

Jews For Jesus offers more detail on how Jesus used this particular festival to call all men to himself.

Jesus used water, another main element of Sukkot, to show that he was the fulfillment of the feast.

In Jesus’ day, special observances and traditions were developed to mark the seventh day of Sukkot, known as Hoshana Rabba, the Great Day.” The most notable of these was the Simchat Beit Hashoevah, or water-drawing ceremony, which went as follows:

Imagine a whole parade of worshipers and flutists led by the Temple priest to the pool of Siloam. The priest had two golden pitchers, one of which was for wine. He filled the other with water from the pool. As the musicians played, a choir of Levites chanted Psalm 118: “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them. I shall give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation.” (v. 19-21) Psalm 118 is a prophetic psalm, which contains the words: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (v. 22,23)

After the Scriptures were chanted, the whole procession headed back to the Temple and a silver trumpet sounded three times. The priest approached the altar, where two beautiful golden basins were waiting. He poured wine into one basin as a drink offering to the Lord. And he poured water from the pool of Siloam into the other. The whole ceremony, with the parade and the flutes and the singing was so wonderful that one ancient rabbi wrote: “Anyone who has not seen this water ceremony has never seen rejoicing in his life.”

The ceremony was to thank God for his bounty, and to ask him to provide rain for the crops in the coming year. It is said that this ceremony developed from a reading of Isaiah 12:3-4, which says of a future time:

Therefore you will joyously draw water

From the springs of salvation.

And in that day you will say,

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name.

Make known His deeds among the peoples;

Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

So on the last day, that great day of the feast, it is recorded that Jesus stood up and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water'” (John 7:37-38).1 This was astonishing; nobody had ever dared speak like this. Jesus was saying that he was the wellspring of salvation of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote. He was the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed one. It is no wonder that Jesus chose the day of the water-pouring ceremony to invite everyone to come to him. If only the people would believe in him, he would quench their spiritual thirst.

And how did people respond? “Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Messiah.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Messiah is not going to come from Galilee, is he?'” (John 7:40, 41) The crowd was divided among those who believed Jesus’ claims and those who didn’t. And in the middle stood Jesus, who knew that ultimately he was the very corner stone that the builders were about to reject.

Just as we are dependent on God's favor and grace in sending rain for our survival let us look forward with eager anticipation to His coming again to establish His Kingdom and the Rule of Love. 

Food For The Soul.5

"If you understood this, you would beg me to give you living water as well; for whoever drinks natural water soon thirsts again,

but whoever drinks of the water that I give will discover a well that springs up within, overflowing with eternal life."

--Jesus

Lauren Daigle: How Can It Be?

Begging Jesus

What is the difference between psychological and spiritual needs?

Recall the story of the woman at the well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. Thinking this odd, she pointed out the social repercussions of his request. Ignoring the comment, he went to the heart of his mission: an inclusive invitation to eternal life, that is, to know the Savior and worship the Father!

But suppose this troubled Samaritan woman, instead of encountering the Savior of the World, had met a modern day psychologist. Let renowned Professor of clinical psychology Dr. Jordan Petersen describe situations that happen far too often:

"Therapists with a little second-hand knowledge of Freud often axiomatically assume that a distressed adult in their practice must have been subject to childhood sexual abuse. Why else would they be distressed? So, they dig, and infer, and intimate, and suggest, and overreact, and bias and tilt. They exaggerate the importance of some events, and downplay the importance of others. They trim the facts to fit their theory. And they convince their clients that they were sexually abused--if they could only remember. And then the clients start to remember. And then they start to accuse. And sometimes what they remember never happened, and the people accused are innocent. The good news? At least the therapist's theory remains intact. That's good--for the therapist. But there's no shortage of collateral damage. However, people are often willing to produce a lot of collateral damage if they can retain their theory [and justify their behavior].

When you are remembering the past, as well, you remember some parts of it and forget others. You have clear memories of some things that happened, but not others, of potentially equal import—just as in the present you are aware of some aspects of your surroundings and unconscious of others. You categorize your experience, grouping some elements together, and separating them from the rest. There is a mysterious arbitrariness about all of this. You don’t form a comprehensive, objective record. You can’t. You just don’t know enough. You just can’t perceive enough. You’re not objective, either. You’re alive. You’re subjective. You have vested interests—at least in yourself, at least usually. What exactly should be included in the story? Where exactly is the border between events?" (Dr. Jordan Petersen, 12 Rules For Life. emphasis added)

The process of convincing Samaritan Woman that He had something she needed included an accurate description of her present condition. "Go call your husband," Jesus directed her. "I have no husband," she replied. "Correct," he pressed, "the truth of the matter is, you have had five husbands and the man you are now with is not your husband!"

She could very well have shared a similar story to one of Dr. Petersen's clients: "I knew about all this when Miss S came to talk to me about her sexual experiences. When she recounted her trips to the singles bars, and their recurring aftermath, I thought a bunch of things at once. I thought, “You’re so vague and so non-existent. You’re a denizen of chaos and the underworld. You are going ten different places at the same time. Anyone can take you by the hand and guide you down the road of their choosing.” After all, if you’re not the leading man in your own drama, you’re a bit player in someone else’s—and you might well be assigned to play a dismal, lonely and tragic part." (Ibid.)

We, sadly, are all "denizens of chaos and the underworld." Its why Jesus came to this corrupted world.

Jesus took no time to probe Ms. Samaritan Well Lady's past to figure out why she found herself in the present condition. She found herself face to face with Being-Who-Knew-All-Things-But-Didn't-Condemn-Her and drawn to Answers to questions choked away by faulty memory and the difficulties of this world. The change in her was marked and effervescent! Her testimony to the Savior changed an entire town!

To know God is the Only Answer to the haunting questions every human being struggles with: why am I here and who could love the mess I've made of myself?

Psychology may help uncover the how you came to be such a mess or give some catharsis to your supposed victimhood, but it can never answer the essential question:

How Do I Become Right?

Dr. Petersen points out and the Samaritan Woman testifies:

The present can change the past,
and the future can change the present.

But Only a Righteous Savior can do that!

Food For The Soul.4

"Since childhood, you have heard the story of how your ancestors ate manna in the desert; but that was long ago, and now they are ancient memories.

In spite of those miracles, Moses was not able to provide the true bread of heaven, that which my Father is offering to you now.

For the bread of God is embodied in the one who is speaking to you, who has come down from heaven, and offered his own life for the world."

--Jesus

The metaphor of the Bread shows us how utterly good God is in giving Himself to us via the agency of His son. George MacDonald had much to say about this giving of himself. This post is dedicated to seeing Jesus' devotion to the lovely will of His father for the redemption of his brethren through the eyes of George! Enjoy. Be stimulated. Be surprised. Be encouraged.

"You would be astonished to discover what I don't know. But the thing is that I know what is worth knowing. Yet I get not a crumb more than my daily bread by it -- I mean the bread by which the inner man lives. The man who gives himself to making money, will seldom fail of becoming a rich man; and it would be hard if a man who gave himself to find wherewithal to still the deepest cravings of his best self, should not be able to find that bread of life." Thomas Wingfold

"Next, came the perception that my fellow-beings, my brothers and sisters of the same father, must be, next to the father himself, the very atmosphere of life; and that perfect misery must be to care only for one's self. With that there woke in me such a love and pity for my people, my own race, my human beings, my brothers and sisters, whoever could hear the word of the father of me, that I felt the only thing worth giving the energy of life to, was the work that Christ gave himself to -- the delivery of men out of their lonely and mean devotion to themselves, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, whose joy and rejoicing is the rest of the family." Weighed and Wanting.

"Hearing Donal talk about the shepherd of human sheep, Davie felt not only that there once was, but that there is now a man altogether lovely -- the heart of beauty everywhere -- a man who gave himself up to his perfect father and his father's most imperfect children, that he might bring his brothers and sisters home to their father; for all his delight is in his father and his father's children. He showed him how the heart of Jesus was, all through, the heart of a son that adored his perfect father; and how if he had not his perfect son to help him, God could not have made any of us, could never have got us to be his little sons and daughters, loving him with all our might." Donal Grant

"You know, Davie dear, every sin, whatever it is, deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come; and if it had not been that Jesus Christ gave himself to turn away his anger and satisfy his justice by bearing the punishment for us, God would send us all to the place of misery for ever and ever. It is for his sake, not for ours, that he pardons us. She had not ceased when Donal rose in the wrath of love, and came out into the room. 'Lady Arctura,' he said, 'I dare not sit still and hear such false things uttered against the blessed God! Lady Arctura started in dire dismay, but in virtue of her breed and her pride recovered herself immediately, drew herself up, and said--'Mr. Grant, you forget yourself.' 'I'm very willing to do that, my lady,' answered Donal, 'but I must not forget the honor of my God. If you were a heathen woman I might think whether the hour was come for enlightening you further, but to hear one who has had the Bible in her hands from her childhood say such things about the God who made her and sent his Son to save her, without answering a word for him, would be cowardly!...I don't say you don't love Him,' Donal went on;' but how you can love Him and believe such things of Him, I don't understand. Whoever taught them first was a terrible liar against God, who is lovelier than all the imaginations of all his creatures can think.'" Donal Grant

"In the wine and the bread of the Eucharist, He reminds us how utterly He has given, is giving, Himself for the gladness and the strength of the Father's children. Yea, more; for in that he is the radiation of the Father's glory, this bread and wine is the symbol of how utterly the Father gave Himself to His children, how earnestly He would have them partakers of His own being. It was not the power, however, but the glory that Jesus showed forth in the miracle.' MacDonald's Biography

"Like God, of himself he chose righteousness, and so merited to sit on the throne of God. In the same spirit he gave himself afterward to his father's children, and merited the power to transfuse the life-redeeming energy of his Spirit into theirs: made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." The Hope of the Gospel.

Jesus loved His father even to the death of the cross, and eternally beyond it. When we give ourselves up to the Father as the Son gave himself, we shall not only find our yoke easy and our burden light, but that they communicate ease and lightness; not only will they not make us weary, but they will give us rest from all other weariness. Let us not waste a moment in asking how this can be; the only way to know that, is to take the yoke on us." The Hope of the Gospel

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!

Food For The Soul.2

"I am the bread of life: if you come to me, you will never again hunger spiritually; and if you believe in me, you will never again know spiritual thirst. 

Rise up! 

Take hold of the living bread, the spiritual bread that has come down from heaven: if you eat of this bread, you will live forever. 

The bread that I offer you is my life, which I give for the life of the world. 

I am the bread of life come down from heaven, that you may feast on spiritual food, and because of this receive spiritual life and not die.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink."

 --Jesus

These words from Jesus were met with a natural repulsion. One translation states: 

"From this time many of His disciples went away backward, and were no more walking with Him."

From a human standpoint, eating human flesh and drinking human blood entails something abominable to the human experience and actually forbidden in Old Testament law. The penalty was death.

Even without the law, what rational person wouldn't reject such an abhorrent suggestion?

The most wretched of conditions some humans have indeed found themselves in (aside from any form of cannibalism which is an entirely different, vulgar, depraved state of mind) is to be so desperate to survive that eating a fellow is the only alternative to death.

As gruesome as that sounds, especially for anyone who lives comfortably situated near a pantry full of food, there is a deep truth to Christ's metaphor: desperation for the Life-Giving Truths of God is a universal theme throughout scripture carried to completion in the Perfect Representative of our Creator God!

• "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God." Psalm 42:1
• "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1
•  Seek [trample out a path to] the LORD and His strength; Seek [yearn to touch] His face continually." 1 Chronicles 16:11
• "But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God..."Please hear my argument And listen to the contentions of my lips..."Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him." Job 13:3,6,15

Why would Jesus use such a radical idea to convey a deep spiritual truth? Hyperbole? Or the Divine progression of moving Infinite Ideas from simple concept (miraculously turning a few loaves and fish into a feast fit for life-seekers) to active fundamental transformation into Truth and Righteousness--the heart of redemption?

Those who turned away, the bread-only mob, like any human being who miserably fails to ponder God's inconceivable and loving bounty that has "glorified our being with rights so deep, so high, so delicate, that their satisfaction cannot be given until we desire it--yea long for it with our deepest desire" (MacDonald), were not yet fit to understand. Fit like Peter who demonstrated in declaring: "Where shall we go? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE!" 

Christ will be found of those that seek him, first or last; and it is worth while to cross a sea, nay, to go from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, to seek Christ, if we may but find him at last. These people [the crowd who partook of he bread and fish miracle meal] appeared afterwards to be unsound, and not actuated by any good principle, and yet were thus zealous. Note, Hypocrites may be very forward in their attendance on God's ordinances. If men have no more to show for their love to Christ than their running after sermons and prayers, and their pangs of affection to good preaching, they have reason to suspect themselves no better than this eager crowd. But though these people were no better principled, and Christ knew it, yet he was willing to be found of them, and admitted them into fellowship with him.

Christ came to put life into the minds of men, principles productive of acceptable performance Matthew Henry's   Commentary on the Whole Bible, John 6

God is offering the one thing we cannot live without:

His own self! 

we must make room for Him; 

we must cleanse our hearts that He may come in; 

we must do as the Master tells us, 

who knew all about the Father 

and the way to him! 

-MacDonald