Work or Believe? What does God require?

John 6 After Jesus fed the 5000, he left them to spend time with His Father in prayer. Jesus spent time in prayer, leaving us with the question: what do we do when faced with decisions ahead of us or when we are weary? We remember that He had gone away to mourn the death of John, but then his compassionate spirit was overwhelmed when He saw the need of the people. Do we set aside our feelings to meet the needs of others?

Later, the people asked him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?” [Jn 6:28] If you have ever talked to an unbeliever about salvation, that is the first question they ask: What do I have to “do” to earn this salvation? People want to “do” not just “believe.” Doing feeds the emotional needs and not the spiritual. Just believing seems so very out of touch with what they face every day, for men require us to “do” so they are satisfied, but God doesn’t require that. Jesus returned their question to them, saying, “believe in the one the Father has sent.” [Jn 6:29]

Isaiah wrote centuries before this time: God’s ways are not man’s. His ways are higher and superior to ours. [Is 55:8-9] He simply asks us to believe Him and the One He sent. Will we take God at his word and take that step of believing?