believe

I've been guilty at times of complicating things. Sometimes I read more into a situation than what is there; I assume more need than exists. Or I might over-engineer a solution. Sometimes I think what is required of me is something really hard, when in reality it isn't.

This morning, I wondered if I haven't done that with my attempts to serve God.

I wonder because I read of an episode in Jesus' life when the crowd he miraculously fed hunted him down on the other side of the lake. Confronted with their need, Jesus had this to say, as recorded in John 6:26-29: "Jesus answered, 'Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.'

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.'"

Could God's work really boil down to that? Could it really be that all my wrestling with the question of calling, of my purpose, comes to one simple thing? All of the gifts surveys, personality tests, all those things to figure out my shape or my strengths, to know exactly what God equipped me to do in his kingdom – could it be that all of those have been simply confused the issue? Helpful, maybe, but not really pertinent to the main thing? Could it all boil down simply to believing in Jesus?

There's a lot of freight in that one little phrase. To believe in Jesus means to resist all the doubt that Satan and a hell-bent world throws on me. To believe in Jesus means to know what he did and what he promised and what he commanded. And then, truly believing in Jesus means acknowledging his lordship, meaning I need to obey. I need to get to work.

But hard as it might be to do, this statement is extremely simple to understand. What should I be doing? Believe in Jesus - believe what he did for me, what he said about the church, what he modeled in love. Because that will lead me to gratitude, to involvement. It will grow my ability to see life as Jesus sees it.

Maybe instead of looking for a burning bush, for a specific assignment, I should just look at the Jesus of the Gospel. I think as I spend more time with him, the rest of these seemingly complicated or worrisome questions will begin to answer themselves.