The Gospel of John: 53Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood; you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Are you walking dead?  You are, if you are feeding your mind with thoughts about your circumstances.  I’ve been thinking of the choice we have every moment about what to think about.  I realize that if I am dwelling on (i.e.  Worrying about, fretting over) anything, then I am not growing, but dying.  Life comes from feeding on, pondering about, marveling at the many FACTS of my life in Christ.  Here’s the catch.  It takes effort to remind myself of my riches.

What are all those spiritual blessings stored up for me in heaven?   Paul talks about them a lot. In Ephesians 1: 3 he assures us that we who are chosen by God before the foundation of the world have been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ.   All that Christ our redeemer intended to accomplish awaits us.  That would include:

-my sins being removed and laid on Him

-perfect righteousness being credited to me because of what Jesus did

-everlasting life in a place that will be fascinating

-forever fellowship with those whom I love who are also believers

-living and working on a new earth where real peace reigns.

Why is it SO much easier to think about the stuff I have to do, or the difficult decisions that face me, or friends and family who are suffering?  Thoughts about those things come naturally.  And they drain away life.

Jesus says in John that we have life to the extent that we feed on him.  I take that to mean thinking thoughtfully and deeply and with appreciation and wonder about the facts of our faith.  Look above at verse 54 again.  The verbs are in the present tense.  As we feed, we have life.  So the life is not for later, but for right now.

Jesus gives us this very same advice in another format.  Remember what Matthew records in chapter 6, verses 31, 33?  My paraphrase is: Don’t worry/ dwell on/ fret about all the normal things of life, but SEEK first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and you’ll get the other necessities thrown in.  But look at the strength of the verb SEEK.  The Greek word is ZETEO (# 2212) and it means require, worship, will, go after, endeavor.  Those are very active words.  Compare them with how easy it is to fall into worry.  We don’t have to be taught or motivated to fret.  (Come on kids, let’s practice anxiety.  Susie – look at how much better your sister is than you.  Make an effort…)

Along with seeking God’s kingdom, we are to strive for His righteousness.  I take that to mean God’s way of living rightly.  And throughout the Bible, God calls us to believe and to rejoice.   Living God’s way, walking according to His Word has to do with right or correct thinking.  We’re talking about the arena of the mind.  We are far too casual with our thought life.  In fact, we feel entitled to think what we want.  “Who are you to tell me how and what to think?” Well, maybe I don’t have any authority of my own as a fellow human, but God does.  He is our creator.  And He commands us to rejoice.  But we cannot rejoice unless we have content.  This is why believing God and feeding on Jesus takes effort.

Don’t get me wrong, God doesn’t dismiss as unimportant our circumstances, our loved ones’ suffering.  In fact He commands us to pray about them and to cast our cares about everything on Him.  But nowhere does He call us to worry.   We are to BELIEVE, PRAY, TRUST, REJOICE, OFFER THANKS, REPENT, WAIT, REST, BE STILL.  Do you see anything at all akin to worry?

In closing, I commend a book to you by Francis Chan called Crazy Love.  What got me thinking about this was author’s realization on page 41: “When I am consumed by my problems – stressed out about my life, my family, and my job – I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice.  In other words, that I have a ‘right’ to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.”

Amen!