Words of eternal life

John 6: 60 - 69

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.

I will be attending a leadership training module of five sessions starting in May. This will be taught by the senior pastor of a Baptist church in PJ. I am grateful and look forward to this opportunity as my church currently does not have a pastor. Last week, we were forwarded the 'homework' for the first session which is in two weeks time. And together with it a letter that informed all participants to e-mail our responses to the pastor before each class! And we were told that those who think they are too busy to meet this requirement should opt out of the class! This may seem to many as a rather hard word. But, how often have we gone for Bible study unprepared, expecting the leader to do all the work while we remain passive recipients, there to savor some interesting morsels from God's Word now and then? The topic of this module is 'spiritual transformation'. And I believe the pastor is pointing the trainees in the right direction. How can we hope to engage in something supposedly life transforming, if we continue with the bad habit of coming to class unprepared? The word may be 'hard' (different from harsh), but so are many of Jesus' teachings, as some disciples found out...."many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him".

I know that I find some of Jesus' teachings daunting. But I have to ask myself: do I still want to follow him? And why do I want to? Is it just mere ritual or is this a definite choice I have made and therefore will take steps to follow through with personal commitment?

I think I would answer somewhat like the Twelve: "Lord, to whom shall I go? Your words may seem hard but they are the only life giving words I know. I do believe you are who you say you are. And I trust that by remaining with you, I will be empowered to live according to your Word".

The leadership training class and the discipline of doing the homework is just one small, decisive step I take towards remaining with Jesus and understanding and appropriating his life giving word.