Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” John 4:34
Jesus was weary (John 4:6.) It was lunchtime and, so, the disciples had gone for food. It was noon and the sun was beating down on him overhead.
Despite the physical conditions, however, Jesus was satisfied. Why? Because his “food” was doing the Father’s will.
The work of the Kingdom is what filled him. What fulfilled him. What fueled him.
The same is true for us, as Christ followers. Regardless of our current circumstances, we can be filled and fulfilled. We can be fueled and energized. We can be sustained and satisfied.
We can be fed when our food is doing the will of our Father.
I’m weary – of the anger. The hatred. The grudges. The he said/she said. The lack of forgiveness. The losses. Oh, mercy. The losses.
I’m frustrated – by the helplessness. The things that never seem to change. The things that I can’t stop from changing. The days that keep slipping through my hands. The pain all around me. Oh, the pain.
I’m afraid – of the future. Of missing the mark. Of not leaving a mark. Of failure. Of insignificance. Of disappointing You. Of wasting time.
But I’m certain – that You, who began a good work in me will bring it to completion. That you are aware of my wandering and my wondering. That there is still work for me to do. That my battle scars are beautiful to you.
And I’m rising – from the ashes. To begin again. To live anew and renewed. To fix my face and forget my mistakes. To love lavishly. To do the next right thing. To follow You one step at a time.
There is a scene in the much loved movie, The Princess Bride, where Vizzini used the word “inconceivable” one too many times. Inigo Montoya, exasperated by his overuse of the word, confronted Vizzini by saying, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
I couldn’t help but imagine that, were Inigo Montoya able to listen to many of us speak today, he would make the same statement regarding our use of the word love. We love photos on social media. We love pizza. We love celebrities. We love music. We love vacation spots. We love our families. We love a good book. We love shoes that don’t hurt our feet. We love our favorite pair of jeans. On and on it goes. The word has become so overused and watered down that I do not think it means what we think it means. Yet, we keep using that word.
As I read through the Bible last year, that movie quote kept running through my mind as I was confronted time and time again with scriptural commands to love. Love the Lord. Love my brothers. Love my enemies. Love my neighbors. Love the poor. Love the lonely. I found myself asking, “What does it look like to live like that? To love like that?”
If loving others is of the utmost importance to the Lord (and it is), then it must be of the utmost importance to me as well. So, I began studying, marking every verse that mentioned loving others, and making notes. What I discovered was that there are literally hundreds of commands, instructions, and encouragements that speak specifically to loving others. And I felt this overwhelming desire to obey each and every one of them.
There is the connection between mind and heart. What I fill my mind with ultimately fills my heart.
It’s tempting to dwell on old wounds, world news, what I could have, would have, should have done. But those things bring anxiety to my mind and unrest to my heart.
Paul’s prescription for peace is to fill my mind with a certain type of thought.
True things.
Honorable things.
Just things.
Pure things.
Lovely things.
Commendable things.
Excellent things.
Things that are worthy of praise.
What was on your mind this morning? It’s not too late to redirect your thoughts.
