Lend me your imagination for a moment. Imagine you are suddenly able to cross space and time and you mysteriously find yourself in a casual conversation with Jesus. Jesus says, "Hey, how you doin'? What have you been up to since this time yesterday?"
You say something like, "Well, last night I worked all night on my group project until 2am, but it was worth it because I think it is going to be really good -- I think we'll get a really good grade on it. And then I got up at 7 and went to classes until noon, and ate lunch at Owens, but then the weather was so awesome today I decided I couldn't pass it up, so me and some friends played Ultimate Frisbee on the Drillfield for a couple hours, and then made a drink run to 7-11 for Slurpees, and then went over to one of my friends' apartment to hang out for a while, and then we decided to top off this awesome day by going out to Olive Garden for supper. We ate soo much. It was so good! How about you?"
Remember, you have mysteriously crossed space and, most significantly, time. So based on this particular day in Jesus' life that he has just completed, he answers, "Well, last night I fed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fish, and then hiked up a mountain to pray until 2am, but it was worth it because it really helped prepare me for what I had to do the rest of the day. Next I walked down the mountain and across the lake on water until I caught up with my disciples in their boat. At first they were scared, but then I told them it was me, so they let me in the boat and I teleported the whole boatload of people to shore (literally, including the boat). Then I went from the peak of my popularity to possibly my lowest ever "approval rating" by purposefully alienating the crowd that was chasing me everywhere I went by telling them that 'unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.' They thought I was advocating cannibalism. But I had told them, 'you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.' They needed to shift their focus from the things of this life, to the things that lead to eternal life."
You say, "Oh....wow." That's all you say, because what else is there to say after hearing that? You thought you had a pretty eventful day until hearing about Jesus' day. Then yours kind of paled by comparison. You walk away from the conversation not quite knowing what to think, but you vaguely feel that hearing about Jesus' day has definitely caused you to see your own day from a different perspective. And you wonder, how much of MY focus has been on "the things of this life", and how much has been on "the things that lead to eternal life".
Tonight at Oasis we'll be studying John chapter 6 which covers the one day in Jesus' life which you just got done talking to him about in your imagination. Please come take just an hour or two with us to focus on "the things that lead to eternal life".
We start at 7:30pm at the campus house. If you need directions, they are right over in the right sidebar.
Hope to see you tonight.
Steve
We make followers of Jesus and help his followers grow
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