In a dream God spoke to Solomon and
said to him, “Ask for
whatever you want me to give you.” God, the Creator of everything, asked him,
“What do you want? I’ll give it to you.”
Now, what if that were you or me? What would our response
be? Don’t you wonder sometimes how we’d answer? I do.
So, we’re thinking about how we’d answer God if he asked us
what we want. Now, add to that what Paul is telling the Ephesians, “Don't waste your time on
useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness… watch your step.
Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate
times!
17Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly.
Make sure you understand what the Master wants… Drink the Spirit of God, huge
draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your
heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the
Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Now, as if that
wasn’t heavy enough, we also hear Jesus speaking in John’s gospel about living
Bread that when eaten will give that person eternal life. Jesus is saying he is that Bread…“The Bread
that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this
flesh-and-blood self… Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”
So, there it is God
Message for us today. What would we ask for if God said he would give us
anything? We aren’t to sit on our hands and not do anything with our time here.
We are to think about the things Jesus said. Drink deeply of God’s Spirit. And
then…eat, the Bread of Life.
That’s quite a lot
to think about, to take in today, but hey, we’re here and we’re intelligent
beings, and we’ve the time right now. So…where should we start?
Let’s begin with
what Solomon requested…wisdom. Don’t you think it a little odd that a young man
would ask God to give him a discerning heart so that he could govern the people
and decide right from wrong? But maybe it isn’t too strange considering who his
parents were and the fact that he was raised and educated by the best and
wisest scholars in the royal city. So,
maybe if we’d had the same opportunities we’d have answered God the same way.
You know, we have
been educated by some pretty smart people and yet I wonder if we’d ask for a
discerning heart when questioned by God.
So, being educated
people and intelligent, could it be that we’ve been wasting our time on
busywork, useless, frivolous tasks and not focusing on the things of the
Spirit? Maybe you haven’t but I know I have.
I’ve done most of
the things Paul was talking about. It’s not something I’m proud of, in fact it
shames me to think of some the things I’ve wasted my time on. But, that’s in
the past and today I am more focused on what God would have me do. Even then I still don’t use my head. There
are still times when I don’t feel like singing any songs at all let alone songs
of praise.
You know that
usually happens when I don’t take time to be with God. I think I don’t have time to talk to Him or
sit and commune with Him and then I find myself in a slump, those dark places
none of us likes to be in.
Have you ever
gotten so involved with work that you forgot to eat or you didn’t want to go to
bed until a particular task was completed? Pretty soon you run out of energy,
you get kind of grumpy, and you’re just not too much fun to be around.
That’s what it’s
like when we don’t eat from the Bread of Life.
Just like we need some carbs in our diet every day so we need the
Bread of Life, Jesus, in our life every day or else we don’t feel right. We
feel like something’s missing.
And there is
something missing. We’re missing out being energized by the Spirit, by eating
from the Bread of Life. Paul said we need to drink huge draughts of the Spirit
and Jesus said that we need to eat of the Bread of Life.
Just as our bodies
need nourishment from all the basic food groups so does our soul need to be fed
by drinking in God’s Spirit and by eating from the Bread of Life.
How do we do that,
eat and drink God? Friends, I believe that our soul gets its nourishment by
being actively engaged with the triune God, reading his word, praying to him
continuously, singing His praises, and taking time to just sit and drink in his
Spirit in those quiet times of our days. And if we don’t have quiet times then
we need to make time for them. It’s that important.
So, if God asks you
what you want think about how you’d answer. And as you think about that allow
him to change your life by drinking from his Spirit and eating from the Bread
of Life in the ways God has created just for you to do that.
If we strive to do
all that then Jesus says that we will live forever. Some have gone on ahead of
us and are already doing that. Some of us are neglecting our souls and need to
get back to being with God. And some have been diligent in doing the work God
has asked them to do and they’re just waiting for the day he invites them to
come home.
What do you want
from God? What does God want from us? And how can we know the answers to both
of these questions? Friends, you and I will discover the answers when we take
time to be with God and invite Him to be with us in our quiet places.
Thanks be to God
for his patient grace. Amen.
