"Jesus answered them and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."
John 6:26-27 (NKJV)
At almost any place you work, you will receive some benefits. Once you are hired at a place, they will usually tell you your responsibilities and the benefits you will have because you work there. This is good, and there should be some benefit received when you work somewhere. But what if someone only wanted to work at a place to get the benefits and they had no interest in the work? What often happens is that this type of attitude in a person has a negative impact on their work.
When Jesus was physically present on the earth, there were people who were drawn to Him because of His teaching, the healings that took place, and the miracles that He did, and many people came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. But there were others who rejected Jesus, and some who seemed to be following Jesus just for the benefits, as we see in John 6. Those people wanted to be around Jesus, not because of Who He was, but because of what they gained from Him.
Today, there are many people who follow Jesus, and are committed to serving Him and doing His will; but there are some people who see Jesus as more of a lifestyle coach, or even like a sort of Santa Claus who is only there to give them good things. Jesus can help us have an abundant life (John 10:10), and good gifts do come from God (James 1:17), but these are the benefits that come from following Jesus and they are not the things that we pursue. We have to be careful that we don't just focus on the benefits and get sidetracked from our commitment to following and serving Him.
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."
John 6:26-27 (NKJV)
At almost any place you work, you will receive some benefits. Once you are hired at a place, they will usually tell you your responsibilities and the benefits you will have because you work there. This is good, and there should be some benefit received when you work somewhere. But what if someone only wanted to work at a place to get the benefits and they had no interest in the work? What often happens is that this type of attitude in a person has a negative impact on their work.
When Jesus was physically present on the earth, there were people who were drawn to Him because of His teaching, the healings that took place, and the miracles that He did, and many people came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. But there were others who rejected Jesus, and some who seemed to be following Jesus just for the benefits, as we see in John 6. Those people wanted to be around Jesus, not because of Who He was, but because of what they gained from Him.
Today, there are many people who follow Jesus, and are committed to serving Him and doing His will; but there are some people who see Jesus as more of a lifestyle coach, or even like a sort of Santa Claus who is only there to give them good things. Jesus can help us have an abundant life (John 10:10), and good gifts do come from God (James 1:17), but these are the benefits that come from following Jesus and they are not the things that we pursue. We have to be careful that we don't just focus on the benefits and get sidetracked from our commitment to following and serving Him.
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