Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Open my eyes, dear Lord, and help me see what is important. Turn my heart to your will, your Word, and your Spirit for I know that only these can truly nourish me and sustain me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

At that time Jesus' followers came back from town. They were surprised because they saw Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told the people in town, "A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Christ. " So the people left the town and went to see Jesus. While the woman was in town, Jesus' followers were begging him, "Teacher, eat something!" But Jesus answered, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." So the followers asked themselves, "Did somebody already bring Jesus some food?" Jesus said, "My food is to do what the One (God) who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. {When you plant} you always say, 'Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.' But I tell you, open your eyes. Look at the {people. They are like} fields ready for harvesting now. Even now, the person that harvests the crop is being paid. He is gathering crops for eternal life. So now the person that plants can be happy together with the person that harvests. It is true when we say, 'One person plants, but another person harvests the crop.' I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Other people did the work, and you get the profit from their work." Many of the Samaritan people in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had told them about Jesus. She had told them, "He (Jesus) told me everything I have ever done." The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged Jesus to stay with them. So Jesus stayed there two days. Many more people believed because of the things Jesus said. The people said to the woman, "First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know now that he really is the one that will save the world." Two days later Jesus left and went to Galilee. (Jesus had said before that aprophet is not respected in his own country.)

Related Scripture Readings

The people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now. So the people got into the boats and went to Capernaum. They wanted to find Jesus. The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked Jesus, "Teacher, when did you come here?" Jesus answered, "Why are you looking for me? Are you looking for me because you saw me do miracles that prove my power? No! I tell you the truth. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and you were satisfied (full). Earthly food spoils and ruins. So don't work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good always and gives you life forever. The Son of Man will give you that food. God the Father showed that he is with the Son of Man." The people asked Jesus, "What are the things God wants us to do?" Jesus answered, "The work God wants you to do is this: to believe in the One that God sent."

Brothers and sisters, all of you should try to live like me. And copy those people who live the way we showed you. Many people live like enemies of the cross of Christ. I have often told you about these people. And it makes me cry to tell you about them now. The way these people live is leading them to destruction. They don't serve God. Those people live only to please themselves. They do shameful things, and they are proud of those things. They think only about earthly things. But our homeland is in heaven. We are waiting for our Savior to come from heaven. Our Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be careful that no person does sexual sin. And be careful that no person is like Esau and never thinks about God. Esau was the oldest son and he would have inherited (received) everything from his father. But Esau sold all that for a single meal. You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father's blessing. Esau wanted that blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change the thing he had done.