The Most Essential Food

THE MOST ESSENTIAL FOOD

John 4:27-38 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Intro: A couple of weeks ago we started in John 4 and talked about living water – the gift of God that keeps on giving. Then we looked at the profile of Genuine Worshipers – they know who they worship, and they worship God on a spiritual level and with nothing to hide. Today we’re going to talk about food. However, as good as food can be, this is not ordinary food. When Jesus said He had food that the disciples knew nothing about, that did not mean that He had a secret stash of food in His robe. The Lord’s food that He spoke about had to do with harvest. Some of you may have harvested some good crops over the years from your gardens and trees Harvest is a wonderful time, as we are able to enjoy the fruit of our labors. It is a wonderful time to share. One thing about harvest, however, is that it is only for a limited time. You only have so long to get everything out of the field or garden. Sometimes it involves a delicate balance. Leave it in the field too long and it may rot or freeze. Harvest it too soon and it won’t be ripe or ready to eat.

-Well, like many of you, Jesus is into sharing His food, and there is something greater than physical food that gives us sustenance and satisfies a hunger within us.

Prop: The main idea today is this: God wants to share essential food with us by including us in what He is doing in this world.

Interrogative: What is the essential food we’re talking about today?

TS: Let’s look at three thoughts that Jesus gave while sharing food with His disciples.

I. The Most Essential Food Includes Committing Oneself to the Father’s Will (34)

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me….”

-We cannot separate God’s will for our lives from mission. What do I mean by mission? Mission is what we are here on planet Earth to accomplish for the Lord. It may be God’s will for you to live well, have a good job, nice home, and friends to share it all with. However, we must ask ourselves a deeper question than the average American does. Is this all there is? If you are a Christian and have read your Bible much at all, you know the answer to that. However, the next question goes like this: Since there is more to this life than just working, accumulating, and dying, how much of my life am I devoting to each area? If we labeled our activities as being related to what is [E]ternal or what is [T]emporary, how many E’s would we come up with each day?

-My point is this. There are many important opportunities that we may miss in life, if we simply go on about our business. One reason prayer is so essential to our spiritual lives is that it helps us know what the Lord is saying to us. What if the Lord set up a divine appointment for you to share the good news of His love and forgiveness with someone, but you hadn’t checked in with Him and were not in the listening mode? Is knowing God’s will for your life as important to you as daily food? Are we anywhere close to being able to say, “My food is to do the will of the Lord”? Our food must be more than buying groceries and things and trying to live a comfortable life. What else is God asking us to do during our time here?