MIssing the God of the universe for a free lunch.

(originally written May 23/08)

"When they found him back across the sea, they said, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?'.  Jesus answered, 'You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs - and for free'."      John 6:25-26 The Message

We can't just do church because it fills something in us.  Whether it's emotionally, intellectually, physically or even spiritually.  Jesus' miracle of feeding the 5,000 was not about the act of eating exclusively.  It was because Jesus wanted to show God's power (and capabilities - correct word?).  They missed seeing God in His actions (ironic) and went straight to how the act met one or more of their needs (specifically here: the need for lunch, the need for a king, the need for the supernatural, the need for some one to provide for them, etc.).  Of course, Jesus meets all our needs!  He can fill every part of us!  But we can not stay at that place.  We must look beyond that to see Who He Is and Who He is trying to reveal. When we are singing (worshipping, although not necessarily) on Sunday morning or on Wednesday nights at youth, are we doing it to get our 'need-to-worship-something' bucket filled?  Or our 'feel-good' bucket filled?  Or our 'being-with-other-people' bucket filled?  Let us not go looking for Jesus (vs 26) just because we know that He can fill us, but also because we want to get a glimpse of God.  Why settle for another free lunch when we can have the God of the universe standing before us?

Help me, Father, to worship you because of Who you are.