Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³³  So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”

 ³⁴  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

 ³⁵  “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

 ³⁶  “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal;  so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

 ³⁷  “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’

 ³⁸  “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”  John 4:31-38. 

As shared in the “About Me” tag of my web site – Click here: About me « Reformed Doctrine Blog : “Although I grew up in the Christian Reformed Church in Muskegon, Michigan, I moved to Florida in 1977 to go to law school, and I stayed here in Florida.  I attended and was a member, even a lay leader, in a large range of churches from Assembly of God to Baptist to Calvary Chapel to United Methodist to nondenominational churches and small fellowships.”

In some of the churches, committees, conferences, and retreats that I attended, there was such an emphasis on “soul-winning” that, I, for one, felt guilty about either my failure or inability to win souls.  It is hard, even now, years later, to shake this feeling, particularly when I read Scripture such as today’s Scripture.  And, I also tend to want to justify myself for my failure or inability to win souls, or much worse, I also tend to want to twist Scripture to make me look good.  As I write this devotion, I must admit and confront these feelings and tendencies. 

Many of you out there can more fully and better explain this Scripture.  When I hear your sermons or read your commentaries, with God’s grace, your rebuke, exhortation, and encouragement will help me and others.

So, I will limit my commentary to the hope that I see in verse 34.  “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”  This verse reminds me of the following verses which speak of God’s work.   (Emphasis is added to the following Scripture.) 

Matthew 16:18
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;  and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” 

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  Ephesians 4:11-13.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10. 

Philippians 2:13
“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

Ephesians 1:11
“also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,”

In conclusion, we tend to think that Christ’s work ended when He died on the cross, and that the presence of every person either in heaven or hell is solely our personal responsibility, but the main verse in the Scripture for today and other Scripture teaches us and reminds us that Christ will faithfully accomplish His promise and His work to build His church.