Are Christ’s words relevant – still true – even when they are difficult? We say they are, but then we pluck around like nervous chickens, on the hunt for distraction and satisfaction.
What really is our way of life? Is it spending time with Christ, following Him even if it leads to human rejection, or melding with the culture around us?
We are constantly bombarded with the temptation to think that the current ways are truer than Scripture that they will lead to more meaning and significance. But think about it, marketers heave massive amounts of money and research to get their products, movies and messages into the public eye. They want to change your thinking and appeal to your wants and needs, yet they offer nothing lasting. Their words are only as good as the next product.
God’s words are different. They have power. They endure.
The first “word” He spoke into existence – light – still exists. Then, Jesus became the Word incarnate (John 1:1). God will have the last word, too. All people will bow and call Him the holy Lord of Lords, even those who want us to think their goods or words are god. Imagine, everything is inferior compared to Him, yet we tend to look to everything but Him for happiness and validation.
In John 6, the people following Jesus around were having difficulty digesting His words. The very ones who had been miraculously fed by Him turned and walked away because He said strange things, things that meant they would have to surrender personal agendas. And they didn’t want to, just like so many of those leaving the church today.
And in this chapter we read: Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69, NIV).
Every day, we face a choice. We have been given the words of life that will absolutely satisfy us, more than food and drink, more than the next gadget or achievement. Will we prioritize Him, trust Him to be what our hearts are looking for?
Jesus wants to save us the disappointment of prioritizing the next fad. He wants people who have come to believe and to know that there is no place, no one, no thing, no word as absolutely true and fulfilling as Him. To whom will we go today?
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Kristen White, on the Web at womenwithroots.com, is a writer in Shelbyville, Ky.)
