Believe

Jesus replied, "This is the work of God:  that you believe in the One He has sent."  John 6:29

In this passage, the people are asking Jesus how they can perform the works of God.  These people had witnessed the feeding of 5000 only the day before.  They had searched for Him the following morning, only to find Him on the opposite sea shore...knowing that there had been only one boat and the disciples has left without Jesus, they knew He had done something miraculous to get to the other side.  (In fact, this was the morning after Christ had walked on water out to the boat.)  These people wanted in on the miracles they saw.  But the answer Jesus gave was probably not what they expected.  Other religions would've have told them a path to follow, or given them rituals to perform, or told them to travel to Mecca.  Christianity is unique in that the answer isn't in what we do for ourselves, but in what has already been done for us by a great and loving God!  We need only to BELIEVE in the ONE (Jesus Christ) HE (God the Father) has sent!  God has done the work, God is still doing the work, but we need to have pliable hearts, hearts that believe!

God has done a tremendous work in me since my becoming a Christian.  The beauty of it is, that He just didn't stop working once I BELIEVED!  I've changed so much since accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior.  That continual change is His work... a work that began about once I BELIEVED!  The Lord knocked, I merely opened the door.  In no way, could I have effected this change in myself by myself or through myself.  He is the catalyst for change in me.  And as believers, open and pliant to His Will, He will continue to work in and through us! 

Yes, in order to continue to grow in Grace and Good works, we should pray, study the Bible, fellowship one with another, etc...These things are necessary for the believer to thrive and grow in Christ.  However, these are merely the tools through which God works.  In order for these to be effectively working in our lives, we must first believe! 

If we believed like we are to truly believe, THEN we are DOING the WORK of God!

In His Love, Cathy