Believe in Him

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one He sent.” John 6:28-29

One of the first things we learn about God is that He loves us. I remember staring at a plaque on the wall when I was young. It had the words, "God is Love", and I remember feeling God say to me in my heart, "Yes I am." Imagine the Creator of the Universe, the one who breathed the gigantic enormous stars into being, taking the time to speak to a little girl in her small, ordinary little bedroom. He SEES us. He sees EACH ONE of us. Jesus saw the crowds, and had compassion on them. He FELT their pain. When the crowds followed Him, they had a great many questions. One of them was, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” 

Jesus did not give them a list of things to do, but said simply, “Believe in me.” He also said, “Follow me,” many times. How can we follow the Christ, who did not have a home to stay in, who went around preaching with just a walking stick, and carried hardly anything else? Perhaps we need to start with SEEING like Him, seeing the need and the pain around us. We are probably born with this instinct, to help, to share, to love, but the world numbs us, and we become over protective of ourselves, selfish even. 

There is a true story of twins born in 1995. Brielle and Kylie Jackson were born 12 weeks premature and each weighed only about 2 pounds. Each baby was in a separate incubator, but Brielle was not expected to survive because something was very wrong with her heart. At only three weeks old, Brielle went into a critical condition and she was turning blue. A hospital nurse went against the hospital’s normal procedures, and placed both babies in the same incubator. When they were together, the healthier Kylie put an arm around her sick sister in a rescuing embrace. The breathing and the vital signs of the weaker baby immediately began to stabilize. Now they are all grown up and closer than ever! 

I have to confess that I am an expert at NOT SEEING, at ignoring the need around me. It is easier if we do not see, then we do not need to act. But if we are to be like Jesus, we need to see. Seeing is where we need to start. God's heart breaks when He sees the crowd of humanity without a shepherd, so He sent His son to be the Good Shepherd, and to be our example of what the "image and likeness of God is". We are meant to "take on an entirely new way of life- a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into our conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in us." (Eph.4:22 Msg)

It’s good to make all these plans to lose weight, to be more organized, to be more productive, etc etc, but let's include an intentional step by step plan to take on the character of Jesus. It's going to take a lifetime, but it will take us on a journey to our rightful place as sons and daughters of the King!