Stay Focused
by Dan Jones, M.D.
John 4:31-38
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."
But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
Jesus had finished his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. His disciples had returned from town with food for them all to eat. They had been very surprised to see Jesus in conversation with this woman. Knowing he was hungry as they were, they encouraged him to eat something. In his reply, Jesus uses a metaphor about food that is confusing to his disciples. He goes on to explain to then that spiritual matters are more important than physical matters and should have a higher priority in our lives. Jesus demonstrated an urgency and focus about sharing the gospel difficult for his disciples to comprehend.
And this is a difficult comprehension for us today. As health professionals, we have so many pressures of life that keep us focused on the physical life. We have responsibilities and time pressures every day. It is not easy to understand this idea from Jesus that regardless of our profession or role in life, our only real purpose for being on this earth is to love God and share his love with others. And our professional lives are not excluded from this.
In the previous devotional I mentioned a group of medical students who had attended a conference dealing with sharing one’s faith through the practice of medicine. These students were taking to heart the message Jesus was sharing in this passage. Despite the many pressures of time all medical students deal with, these students had taken a few days to travel to a conference and learn about this area of their lives. They were expressing a commitment to using their professional lives to further God’s kingdom.
Lord, help me be focused every day on what is most important in life, knowing and sharing your love.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash
