“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” John 4:34

“I’m just not being fed.” You’ve heard the cliché. It tends to mean that someone isn’t hearing things that are comforting, challenging, enlightening, or motivating. Or perhaps that they aren’t enjoying something enough. At its base, it expects a passive reception of something that a church leader or church program should be providing.

What if “our food” were the food Jesus speaks of? If our food, like Jesus’, is to do the will of the Father, “being fed” ceases to be a passive reception and becomes an active involvement in God’s mission. It transforms our understanding of Christianity from a focus on prosperity (“What am I getting?”) to a focus on participation in the will of God (“How am I participating?”).