You gotta love good questions! So much wisdom is never gained because we don’t ask the right questions . . . or, the wisdom is lost because we don’t revisit those profitable questions. And sometimes we don’t ask, or re-ask, those good questions because they seem too simple . . . so rudimentary, so basic that we pass right over them . . . thinking we already have the answers, if we think of them at all. But Jesus has a way of bringing things back to the basics. For those who seek Him . . . for those who desire to follow Him . . . from time to time, Jesus will set us up to refocus on just the right thing . . . to ask, or ask again, the good question . . . so that we might be grounded in His great answer.

Background . . . Jesus has just fed the 5,000. The day after this barley loaf and fish feast, the people realized that Jesus and His disciples are gone, having crossed the Sea of Galilee over night and gone to Capernaum. That’s where they catch up with Him. And Jesus knows the reason for their following after Him, “You want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.” (John 6:26 NLT)

And then Jesus “sets them up” — leading them to the edge of the gold mine that would be revealed through the asking of the right question — He says to them, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set his seal” (6:27). That’s the set up . . . there’s “the hook” . . . there’s the invitation to probe a bit deeper and ask the question. Don’t work for food that won’t last, He says . . . Work for food which results in eternal life, He prompts them.

And then . . . here it comes . . . they bite . . . and the ask . . .

“Then they said to Him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ ” (John 6:28 ESV)

Bam!!! What a great question!! They were hungry and wanted to satisfy their rumbling tummies . . . but they were also spiritually famished . . . starving to connect with God . . . wanting eternal satisfaction . . . thirsting for everlasting life. And Jesus says it’s theirs to “labor for” . . . and so they say, “How do we work the works of God?” And when you ask the the Lord the right question, you get quite the profound answer . . .

“Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ ” (John 6:29 ESV)

There it is . . . the beauty of the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s “the work”. Believe in Him who God sent . . . period . . . done deal. Most didn’t get it . . . and it leads to a wonderful dialogue where Jesus presents Himself as the “bread of life.” But that is all in support of this wonderful truth — the “work” for us to do in order to possess eternal life is to believe in the One God has sent, Jesus the Messiah.

“Believe” can be such an over-worked and under-thought word — but it is at the core of who I am as a Christian . . . maybe that’s why we refer to ourselves as “Believers” . . . ya’ think? The only thing I can do to merit God’s favor is to believe in His Son. The way I stay in relationship with the Father is to believe. The way to do life on a day-by-day basis, is to believe. The way to please God, is to believe (Heb. 11:6).

And believing is not just mental assent . . . it is ordering my life around who He is . . . and who He claims to be true . . . and what He promises to do . . . and what He has called me to be. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17) . . . true enough . . . but faith is the initial work . . . it is the starting point. To believe is then to be moved, in response to what I believe, to do that which pleases my Heavenly Father. But it all starts with believing . . . with trusting in Him and His word — without that as a starting point, my works are, at best, for food which perishes.

Yeah . . . good question! Great answer! Awesome Savior!! Amen?