How tenacious are you?

What can we do? (John 6:28)

You’ve probably heard of the Rubik’s Cube, a puzzle requiring tremendous concentration to solve. You must move the parts of the cube in an exact sequence to master it. Many start out enthusiastically, only to give up after a few minutes, frustrated by the puzzle’s complexities.

You could say the crowd in today’s Gospel is treating Jesus like a kind of puzzle. They can’t seem to figure him out. He was a prophet, no doubt. But he said and did things that stretched their laws and traditions in uncomfortable ways. What did he mean about being the “bread of life” (John 6:35)? How could he do things that only God could do, like heal the sick or forgive sins? They couldn’t get their minds around him because they hadn’t yet started thinking “outside of the cube.”

Still, you have to admire their tenacity. Even when Jesus gives them an answer that they don’t understand, they try a different tack. “When did you get here?” “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” “What sign can you do?” They really want to know, and they’re not about to give up! And as we will see at the end of this chapter, no one was more tenacious than Peter. After having heard Jesus give so many baffling—and seemingly scandalous—answers, he decides to keep following him. “Master,” he asks, “to whom shall we go?” (John 6:68). There’s no one else who speaks with the same authority, passion, and love. All I can do now is stay with you until it all makes sense.

How tenacious are you? Sometimes we want to know exactly what God is doing in our lives—Should I stay at this job? Should I marry the person I’m dating? Why wasn’t my loved one healed when I prayed? Sometimes there isn’t a yes or no answer, and other times we just have to wait. Whatever happens, stick with it. Stick with Jesus, and you will be rewarded!

from wau.org

Malleable hearts

Anoint him, for this is the one. (1 Samuel 16:12)

Even from the earliest days, there was a strict hierarchy in every Jewish family. The father was the head of the household, and his eldest son was the heir apparent. All the other sons had lesser places in the home and stood to inherit less than their older brother. 

But Scripture tells us about some people who operated outside of this hierarchy and became powerful servants of God in their own right. For example, Deborah was a woman living in a man’s world (Judges 4–5). Jacob outshone his older brother, Esau (Genesis 27). And Gideon, the “most insignificant” in his father’s house, rose up to become a great warrior and liberator of his people (Judges 6–7). David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, fits right in that pattern.

By traditional standards, these limitations should have kept these people from rising up to positions of leadership in Israel. But God uses a different method of selection. He places an emphasis on how a person thinks and acts, not on that person’s place in the family or society. As he told Samuel, he looks at the heart, not the appearance.

Even today, God is looking for people with pure hearts, people who will be faithful and obedient. He is looking for people who are willing to be formed by him. King Saul, David’s predecessor, had turned away from God, but in David, God found a man with a soft heart and a willing spirit.

God isn’t looking for the smartest, the wealthiest, the most beautiful, or the flashiest person. He is looking for people who are committed to him and who strive to model their lives after his teachings.

We are God’s anointed ones. He has blessed us and filled us with his grace. May we rise up today and tell the Lord that we want to serve him and honor him with our lives.

“Lord, give me the desire to follow you and the strength to help build your Church.”

~taken from wau.org