Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

–Parallel verses:
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭34‬-‭38‬ ‭
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a 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.”

During college I worked at a church as an intern, where I worked for room and board. It was a pretty good deal, as I ate a lot back then. Let’s just say I have always had a soft place in my heart for a good meal.

Now as I get older, diet matters even more. If I eat junk, the fuel for my body is poor and I am sluggish. If I eat healthy food, I feel more energetic and vibrant during the day. With different health issues we may have, like diabetes or allergies to gluten or dairy, certain people have to eliminate or cut back on certain food groups.

What we consume spiritually also matters. Jesus called his disciples to consume the work God had prepared in advance for them to do. He said the harvest is ripe but the workers are few. It is not just enough to know a lot about God and the Bible, we are not fully fed spiritually that way. We must consume the work he has prepared for us too. We must actively live out our faith.

Back to Acts, the disciples wanted more interesting facts about Jesus’ second coming. That is fine, but it is not what Jesus wants them to focus on. So he redirects their attention to something way more important. Instead of consuming knowledge mainly, he calls the disciples to feed off of the work God has prepared in advance for them. This work is to be a living witness to the incredible heart-changing power that we find in Jesus Christ. We are to feed and focus on shining the light of Jesus in this dark world.

What do I feed off of? Is it just knowledge, or am I feeding off of the work of God?

Lord, help me to feed off of the true spiritual meat of doing your work. You grow us most in the trenches of life. May I bless people not so much with fancy Christian sayings, but more with solid love in action.