Today we’ll look at John 5: 36-44:

³⁶ But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

³⁹ “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰ Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. ⁴¹ I do not accept glory from humans. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God?

I tell people that calculus was one of the best classes I took in college to help me understand leadership.  What I learned was this.  You had to start in the right place.  If you didn’t start in the right place, all your work didn’t matter.  You could work so hard, do all the “right” things, but if you had the wrong starting point, it didn’t matter. 

That is sort of what Jesus is talking about today. These religious leaders, they didn’t start at the right place.  They didn’t start with faith. They started with heritage. They started with works. They started with the family tree. 

They did not start with faith. So, all the work they did, it didn’t make a difference. That is what Jesus is saying – you have not heard His voice, you do not know His voice, and you aren’t finding me because you aren’t seeking me. You aren’t looking to me in faith. So, you are missing.  

With our walk with Jesus, we have to start here.  Faith. It starts with faith. Not with our goodness. Not with our works. Not with anything else. Faith.  It all starts with faith. 

Today, have faith. Even if you aren’t sure. Even if you don’t understand. Even if you don’t know.  Have faith.  That is where it all starts. With faith. 

When we start with faith, all our work makes sense. Start here.  Faith. 

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