Spiritual Food

John 4:34 (NKJV)
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work”

Just before this verse, the disciples asked the Lord if He wanted something to eat. He answered them by saying, “I have food to eat of which you do not know”, (John 4:32b, NKJV). They were unsure of His answer, so they asked if someone had brought Him some food. They were only thinking of physical food, not realizing what Christ was saying.

Jesus responded by sharing one His main purposes in life. He said that His food was to do the will of the Father. By this He was saying a few different things. This phrase implies, ‘My very nourishment for existence comes from doing My Father’s will’, or ‘My health and well being is based on doing the will of My Father’, or ‘There is nothing else in life greater than doing the will of My Father’. Doing the will of God was of utmost importance to Christ.

Shouldn’t we hold the same value? If our purpose in life, our desire at the start of each day and our full focus is to do the will of God, we surely will have much more victorious lives. We can only find God’s will, purpose and plan for our life by spending time in His word, spending time in prayer and seeking godly friends and counsel. God’s may not reveal His will right away. We may have to actively seek Him, wait for Him or pray for long periods of time. But God will show us if we seek Him. James tells us, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”, (James 5:16b, NKJV).

Jesus was not only committed to accomplishing the will of God, but He was also committed to fulfill God’s total purpose in life for Him. This is why He stated that He wanted to finish the work of God. He didn’t want to do anything half way or leave anything undone that God had for Him to do at the end of His life. This is what sent Him to the cross. Jesus’ unwavering desire to accomplish His Father’s will put His own will secondary. He and the Father realized that He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. The Father saw in necessary to give His own Son in redemption for the salvation of souls. It was the Father’s will that Jesus die, so naturally Jesus complied with His Father’s will.

We also need to be just as committed to doing only the will of God. We need to start each day asking God to show us His will for that day. Just as a good servant or ambassador, we need to begin the day by saying to God, “Oh Lord, here I am, reporting for duty, whatever is Your will, that I will do.”

Thoughts, comments, objections.



Daniel A. Smith