Look to and Believe

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOOK TO AND BELIEVE

John 6:34-40

34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 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." 

NIV

It is always about, “give us” it would seem. Even when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray he included the “give us” our daily bread, and “forgive us” and “Lead us not” and “deliver us”. We are completely dependent on Jesus for every aspect of our lives. It is when we start trying to fulfill our own desires, our own needs that we are in danger of sin, looking to our flesh rather than God. So after Jesus tells them not always be looking to fill their stomachs, but fill their spirits, looking for that which leads to eternal life, they say;  then give us that bread. Even in that day, who would refuse something that would allow them to live forever, to have eternal life? It is interesting in our culture today that so many people think they are still going to heaven and will have eternal life just because they are sort of religious. However, the truth is that Jesus is the bread of life. He is the only source of eternal life. Now here is the rub regarding being able to come to Jesus. He says that all the Father gives him will come to him. Some would use these words to prove John Calvin’s idea of election. Only those the Father decides should be saved, he gives them to Jesus. But that is not what Jesus is talking about. The truth is that no one can come to Jesus unless he is first convicted of his sin and need for repentance. This is accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. However, the Spirit came to convict the world, which John includes in his gospel, which we will see later. Even in this discourse, Jesus tells them that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life. So if someone, who would be included in “everyone”, looks to Jesus and believes, will be saved. This is not election, this is the exercise of the free will of man, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Although we might be convicted of our sin, we still have the choice to either look to Jesus or look to our own self. All throughout the history of man, we have been trying to develop some method of our own to be religious enough to get to heaven. God gave the Law through Moses to the Israelites to prove to them no one can live up to the Law, they are going to need a Savior if they are going to get eternal life. No law, no rules, and regulations, no denominational doctrine is going to supply the needed source to eternal life. Only looking to Jesus and believing in him, that he is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, will we gain eternal life. Why we keep looking for some method or a form of works, is beyond our comprehension. Nothing we do will be good enough. No matter how much we flog our flesh, we will never be pure enough. It does not matter how many rules we attempt to follow, they are only rules, and they are not Jesus, who we need to look to and believe. That does not mean we should just go about sinning every which way we can. But the fact is we are going to continue to fall, to fail in being perfect, in committing some kind of sin every so often, like every day, for it would seem nearly impossible to live one day without making some mistake and falling from perfection. But that is not living in sin, it is living for Jesus and still being human. Nevertheless, the fact remains, Jesus is the only source of Eternal life and we simply have to look to Him and believe.