Getting More Jesus – Part II "Having Fewer Wants"
John 6:5-6
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great
company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that
these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he
himself knew what he would do.
Last week we discussed the cost of "getting more" Jesus: our
comfort zones. Usually we don’t want to give up what little we have to get
more, yet we want more. Of course we all know that Jesus takes care of our
needs, but what about our wants? What about the Mercedes Benz you always
wanted? What about that man or woman of God you have been waiting to live
happily ever after with? The basic question we need to address is, "Does
Jesus care about our wants, or is He only concerned with our needs?"
In last week’s text we saw Jesus getting away from the multitude and going
up into the mountain; the disciples quickly followed Him. Some time later,
though, the multitude must have gotten themselves together because the 5th
verse tells us, "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw the great
company come unto him." Now let’s look at this carefully.
Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw them coming. Who? The multitude? Yes. The
great company? Yes. But He also saw THOSE WHO CAME OUT OF THEIR COMFORT
ZONES!!! For some reason, we feel that Jesus can not do math. In other words,
we want to think He pays no attention to what we give up to get more of Him;
but I’m telling you, every cost you’ve paid, every tithe you’ve given, every
offering seed you’ve sown — He’s keeping account of it (more about this next
week).
Most important, when He looks up and sees you coming to get more of Him, He’s
going to do for you what He always wanted to do — Bless you on a higher level
by taking care of your needs and also your wants. If we go back to our text, in
the 5th verse Jesus asks Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these
may eat?" Yes, right after He saw them coming He wanted to meet their
needs and their wants.
Now I can hear the critics, "Brother Yon, if dem’ folks didn’t eat they
would have probably died! He was filling their needs!" O.K. There may have
been a few starving, but what about those who just WANTED to eat. Sometimes
don’t you "just want" a steak or some shrimp. To keep you alive I
know that bologna will suffice, but there are times that bologna just won’t do
it!! You will WANT more. You will want blackened salmon instead of canned tuna.
You will want an executive position rather than that dead end job. And why not?
We serve a God who does the impossible and works in the overflow.
So how do you get into the overflow of not having any wants. Well, the first
step is what we will be sharing with you throughout this series —- "Get
Mo’ Jesus." You see, that vision of success you keep seeing for yourself
is from God. The reason He gave it to you is in this verse: "And
this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do." In other
words, Jesus gave Philip the impossible to reach (feeding all these people)
just to prove (or test) him. You too have been given dreams, visions and wants,
and they are to test you as well. Don’t think that God is going to drop it all
into your lap if you do nothing to earn it. Jesus will get you to a land of
"no wants," but it’s up to you. He’s just testing you. And believe
me, He tests His people. The greater the test, the greater the TESTimony!!
Finally, let’s take a look at the end of verse six, "for he himself
knew what he would do." My brothers and sisters, Jesus has the master
plan. But we "mess-up" by trying to figure out how it’s all going to
work. If the Lord told you, "Apply for that job," apply! If he told
you "Date this person," or "Let that one go," it’s best you
do it! Stop trying to figure it all out because more than likely it won’t work
out the way you thought it would anyway. But know this: IT WILL WORK OUT!!! We
must take assurance in knowing that Jesus knows what He is doing. So follow
Him, make Him your shepherd, and you shall NOT WANT!!
