John 6:28-29, 40 NIV
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
The people who followed Jesus to the other side of the lake were not unusual. In fact, their mindset was just like that of most people today. They wanted to know what they needed to do to be doing "God's work". They wanted to know what was required of them to attain heaven. They were looking for their list of rules and regulations to go by, the list of "good works" that would make them "worthy" so they could assure their own salvation through their own efforts.
Nothing unusual about that, is there? We live in a world that says that nothing worth having ever comes free. If it's worth something, you're going to have to work for it. There's no such thing as a free lunch. People who don't work are lazy, or worthless, or....
So mankind invented religion as an answer to this age-old quandary. Totally ignoring what Jesus had to say about the matter - and, more importantly, what He DID about the matter - mankind established a long list of rules, boundaries and requirements in order to make people feel better about achieving their goal of heaven. Of course, these rules, boundaries and requirements have many minor and major variations, depending upon the denomination each person chooses. But in essence, they are all the same - mankind's attempt to reach up and touch God - and in the process, denying what He did to reach down and embrace us.
In the midst of all this, people spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what God's will is, and becoming incredibly frustrated in the process. Through all of this, the only thing any person has to do is pay attention to Jesus....
Jesus said, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent." . Period.
There is not one thing that you or I can do to make God love us any more - or any less. There is no list of "to do's" that we must accomplish before Jesus takes us home.
Jesus said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." . Period.
God says that - without the covering of Jesus' blood - all our righteous works are like filthy rags to Him (Isaiah 64:6). The good works we do are a RESULT of our love for Jesus, not a ticket to heaven. John 3:21 (NIV) says, "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." And Ephesians 2:10 (NIV), "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
And doing His will is simple - it involves believing in Jesus and accepting His free gift of eternal life.
Too easy, you say? How easy was it for Jesus to allow Himself to be hung on the cross?
If you're not doing it already, begin to do God's real work and God's real will today.
Used with Permission
