Thoughts on John 6:22-29

The crowd had followed you across the sea, because of the signs they saw you perform. There you miraculously fed them, convincing them you were the prophet who is to come into the world. Now it is morning and they can’t find you. They saw your disciples get into the boat to go to the other shore and you weren’t with them. Where could you have gone? They wanted to find you again. So they hitched rides in random fishing boats to seek you.

When they do find you, they are curious about how you got there. And you seem to chide them, assigning to them the desire to feed their bellies as the motivation for their quest.

Uh oh. Hit me on the head again, Holy Spirit. What motivates my desire to know you? Is it to understand the wonder of who you are and the power of your hope? Or is because I want my agenda to be satisfied? Each morning I wake eager to hear your voice of love, but my desire is often tainted with the pressure to hear a word that I can translate into a blog post. I sometimes listen not for my heart’s sake, but for the perceived benefit of being found helpful or insightful by others. Ouch, ugly. But I must admit, this is not always the case, and when it is, I often catch myself and attempt to refocus my heart’s attention.

I hear your encouragement to my soul, listen for the sake of hearing my voice of love meant precisely for you. Don’t worry about impacting others. Your work is to believe in me. A good lesson for my heart.

I read a poem this morning that reinforces this lesson. Schmaltzy, yes, but a good reminder.

Lord, let me make this rule

To think of life as school,

And try my best

To stand each test,

And do my work,

And nothing shirk.

Should someone else outshine

This dullard head of mine,

Should I be sad?

I will be glad.

To do my best

Is Thy behest.

Some day the bell will sound,

Some day my heart will bound,

As with a shout

That school is out

And lessons done,

I homeward run.

Maltbie Davenport Babcock

 

Thank you and amen