Doing the Lord’s Work in Worship, Even if We Aren’t Very Good at It
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 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.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
I can’t say that I blame these people. It’s easy to judge them when we know the whole story about Jesus, but for them, they had just seen a miracle and were hoping that the miracles would continue on and on. They had an almost infinite supply of fish and biscuits the other day, for goodness sake.
But look at how Jesus corrects them. He doesn’t send them all away or ignore them. He doesn’t even sound mad if you don’t read it mad. He is teaching and instructing them. He wants them to get it!
A lot of times we might think “I can’t pray out loud in front of people.” Or we get self-conscious during worship and we don’t know if we’re supposed to be standing, sitting, raising our hands, clapping, or standing with our hands still at our side like in high school choir. We want to do it right but we aren’t even sure what that means.
You’re in a good spot. Here were a couple of thousand people that didn’t know what to think about Jesus, either. We are still about 40 verses away from Him telling people to live off of Him like they live off of food that they would eat! His delivery is only going to get more difficult.
But His teaching is as loving as ever. For those that would seek after Him and submit their lives to His direction, you don’t have to worry about getting corrected for doing it wrong.
The work of God is this: believe in the one He sent. Whatever churchy thing you mess up, He’ll still be helping you to seek after Him wholeheartedly. Whatever you think is wrong about your worship, He’ll accept it, as long as it’s aimed at Him, and He’ll do the necessary work inside of your soul. He’s not after perfect bar chords or singing on pitch, although that makes it a lot easier for the rest of us. He’s looking for people who will believe He is who He says He is and then act on that faith.
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