My Meat Is to Do the Will of Him That Sent Me – John 4
“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” — John 4:34
Like ourselves, the topic of food was a common one amongst the disciples. They looked forward to mealtime and got a bit panicky when they were not sure what they were going to eat. In John 4, the disciples are focused on getting food for lunch, while Jesus is thinking about something totally different.
While the disciples go into Samaria to buy food, Jesus is having an amazing conversation with a woman who has a sinful past. She is obviously searching (“give me this water” v.15). She believes on Jesus and goes away to tell others! This is very fulfilling to Jesus and no doubt the reason He “needed” to go through Samaria (v.4).
When the disciples return, they have food and they encourage Jesus to eat. He responds by saying, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” They can’t figure this out, and so Jesus explains that His “meat is to do the will of [the Father] and to finish his work.”
What an amazing attitude. Total surrender to the Lord and great fulfilment from serving the Lord. This should be our attitude as well. Yet, often we live more for food than we do the work of God. In reality, once we experience the satisfaction Lord’s will brings, we will crave it more than steak or ice cream!