“⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’” – John 6:68-69 (ESV)

Peter said what the twelve disciples were all thinking, only Jesus can they follow as He is the Christ and no one else provided eternal life.  Even though all they had been through and all they would go through, they believed Jesus to be Lord.

During this time, there were many more than the twelve that were “disciples” of Christ.  Not all of them were following Jesus based on their true belief and He knew it.

“’⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)  ⁶⁵And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’ ⁶⁶After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” – John 6:65-66 (ESV)

And when they were called out, they left.  Those that left were in it for themselves and not for the work of Christ.  When called out, they folded and had to admit that they were not willing to place all of their trust and belief in Jesus.  As soon as they realized that the work they were doing did not get them gains today, they moved on.

There is only one way to eternal life, through true belief in Jesus Christ.  We should be following Him exclusively, not for our own gain, but for the work of Christ only.

When you think about following Christ, are you truly following?  What are you hoping to get from your following?  You do know that the only way to eternal life is through Him?

“³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. ³⁴They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ ³⁵Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” – John 6:33-35 (ESV)

We may or may not have heard these verses before, but here they are as Jesus identifies to the men that he is the bread on which they should spend their time pursuing and that He is the way to eternal life. He also tells them again and again the same information as He speaks with them.

“⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.” – John 6:41 (ESV)

 “⁴⁸I am the bread of life.” – John 6:48 (ESV)

 “⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” – John 6:51 (ESV)

I know it seems a bit redundant for Jesus to state so many times in one conversation, however we as humans need to have things given multiple times for us to get it. I recall one of my favorite teachers in high school who made it a practice of giving us information, not only multiple times, but in multiple ways to be sure that we had every opportunity to learn it. Little did I know at the time that he was teaching to everyone.

Jesus taught to everyone and wants everyone to get it. He presents His teachings multiple times and in multiple ways to be sure that everyone has an opportunity to hear. Shouldn’t we take the same approach when we are sharing with others? Not everyone will hear the message you are delivering at the time. You may have to take a different approach with your neighbor than your coworker.

Have you recognized the multiple ways God is trying to reach you? Have you been trying the same approach day after day? What if you tried multiple ways of saying the same thing as Jesus does with us?

“²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.” – John 5:24 (ESV)

The moment I accepted Christ as my personal savior, I was granted eternal life. I “can face the last judgement with confidence” (ESV commentary).

What a great thing to believe. What a great sense of relief. What a great God we have.

All it takes is true belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior and acceptance of Him and you are granted eternal life with Him.

Are you able to believe in Him? Are you able to accept Him? Will you accept immediate eternal life?

“¹³Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” – John 4:13-14 (ESV)

Wow to not be thirsty again that would be something. At least that is what the Samaritan woman was thinking. When we think literally things become a bit too good to be true and you have probably heard that when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

With Jesus, nothing is too good to be true. It is all true. We do have to take it from the spiritual and less from the physical. Think spiritual food and water as opposed to physical food and water. Spiritual health as opposed to physical health. Spiritual love as opposed to physical love.

When we are true to God and accept Jesus, our spiritual needs are met. We have the water we need for eternity, both here on earth and in heaven when our time comes.

What kind of food and drink are you searching for? Have you looked at what Jesus offers as too good to be true? Have you received the living water for eternal life?

“³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” – John 3:36 (ESV)

This verse spoke by John the Baptist identifies for us who we should be working for in this life, GOD.

I know that this may seem obvious, but it bears repeating and discussion as noted here with John the Baptist, because he had built his own ministry and followers, and was able to see and embrace his purpose in it all and was more than gracious to take a back seat to Jesus and the work of God.

“²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him…³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:28 & 30 (ESV)

John had come before Jesus to prepare the world for Him. He understood his role was to simply work to exalt Christ and it would be completely against God to exalt himself instead. Once his work was done, John began to scale back and allow Jesus to take the stage that was created and prepared for Him.

Thinking about myself and this study I publish, am I choosing God or am I choosing myself to be exalted. I like to think that I am exalting God and doing His work, but if I am not thinking about it and not challenging my own thinking I may find myself doing it for selfish gain.

Are you choosing eternal life? Are you spending the proper time and energy to show God as the center of all? Are you choosing life by exalting God?

This morning I was brought to THE Gospel verse in the Bible: John 3:16.

“¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 (ESV)

I am sure that most, if not all of us have heard this verse before. I know that this is probably the first verse I memorized as a kid growing up in the church.

The first 6 words in the verse are something, “For God so loved the world”. Yes, God loved “the world”. My commentary in the ESV indicates this to be “an astounding statement” because before now, it was understood in the Old Testament that God loved His people Israel. The world is certainly filled with more than the Jews. All of us, the entire world, are worthy of God’s Love.

And here is what we are all looking for, what’s in it for me (WIIFM). Eternal life. That is some WIFFM. Not gold, jewels, a big house, fancy vehicle, or loads of money. Not even eternal life here on earth so we can enjoy all of those things.

Eternal Life with Christ in heaven. We are still going to struggle. We may not have everything we want. We may be persecuted each day we are on this earth. But it is that eternal life provided from the love God has for us that should make it all worthwhile.

When you look at today, are you able to accept the love God has for you? Are you loving Him back? Are you accepting the eternal life provided by God’s love for all of us?

“⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5 (ESV)

Our life was provided by God and that life should be a light unto the world. And when we are that light, it cannot and will not be overcome by darkness.

Are we allowing that light to be covered by darkness? Are we trying to find our light? Are we allowing our life, provided by God to be a light unto men?

How often do we find ourselves seeking for more?

“¹⁵And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’” – Luke 12:15 (ESV)

How much we have does not make us whole. In fact if you read the parable related to the above verse, you will see, what if you die before you get to use up all of your possessions?

We have enough without seeking to have more. We should remember that God provides for our “needs” and the more is simply our wants.

When you look at your possessions, are you looking for more? Are you satisfied with what God has provided for you? Do you realize you really do have enough in your life?

A fib, a little white lie, omitting the truth. These all seem harmless and all of which we have likely been guilty. But isn’t eternal life with God more valuable than the sins we commit?

“⁴²Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone where hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ⁴³And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” – Mark 9:42-43 (ESV)

Sin is our nemesis. We are confronted with it daily and it is all too easy to fall into that sin. Even the “little” sins in our lives, the fibs, the little white lies, and the omission of the truth, all of them are sins that keep us from our Lord and Savior.

We have a choice when it comes to sin. We can choose to avoid sin. We do not have to fib. The little white lies do not have to come from us. We can always tell the whole truth.

Will we always be completely wholesome, no, we are human. But, what we can be is repentant. Our hearts should be repentant at all times. The sins we commit may not be known, so we should repent continuously for those sins we are ignorant of.

When we repent, we effectively work to cut off the offending part. God does not want us cutting off our body parts to remove sin. What He does want from us is to avoid sin and when we do, we should be repentant. Our sin should not keep us from living the Christ filled eternal lives that God has in store for us.

What sins are in your life that you could cut out? Are you repentant, or able to be repentant for those sins? Isn’t eternal life with Christ more valuable than the sin in your life?

God is so intentional. I have just started reading the book by Robert Greenleaf – “Servant Leadership” and wouldn’t you know it, God has led me to the passage about that very subject in Matthew.

“²⁶It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:26-28 (ESV)

In service, it is about giving of yourself before asking from someone else. Jesus gave the ultimate, His Life, in service for us. He provided for us, His disciples, and the world in His service. Even to the point of giving His Life that we would not have to.

I am so grateful for the love that Jesus provided for me. I feel as though I should be giving more to Him that I have to give. But I am only asked to serve and obey.

That obedience could end in my physical death here on earth, but my life has be saved through Jesus’ service. All he asks of me is to serve, as he gave his life for mine.

Are you looking to serve God? What are you willing to give? Will you serve in order to provide for the lives of others?