Ever felt like giving up?  Felt like nothing good was happening or going to happen.  Like there was no real reason to keep going like God wasn’t doing anything all?  Like God wasn’t at work?

It’s easy to feel that way.  It’s easy to feel frustrated by all the things in the world that undo us and make us feel like no one cares.  The things that make us feel like God doesn’t care.

We need to keep working for good, even when we feel that frustration.  Why?  Because God is still working.  Listen to what we are told today in John 5: 16-17:

¹⁶ Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”

First, always know this.  In the New Testament (and especially in John’s Gospel) when you see the phrase “the Jews” think religious leaders.  That’s who John is talking about.  He is talking about the religious leaders of his day, he is not talking about all the Jewish people of Jesus day.  Remember, that Jesus was a Jewish, and so were the Disciples and the very first Christians.

When Jesus faces that criticism, of healing, i.e. working, on the Sabbath, what does He do?  He says, my Father is working, so He must be working as well.  His Father was still at work.  So He must still be at work.

That’s true for us today as well.  Our Father, He is still at work.  God is still moving.  God is still at work.  God is saving lives, God is changing people, God is healing families.  He is.  Great things are still happening through God.  God is still at work.

So we must be as well.  Just like our Father is still at work, there is work left for us.  Don’t give up.  Don’t quit.  Don’t be weary from all that you are doing.

Today, this day, this sacred day, you can change someone’s life.  You can make a difference.  You can affect someone in ways that you would never think possible.  You can do amazing things today.

We can make a difference.  We must make a difference.

Our Father is at work today.  And so must we be.  Today, let’s work for good, in all places.  Today, let’s be about our Father’s work.

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