“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
Jesus has asked us if we love Him; if we find our love for Him wanting, what can we do to deepen that love? First, we must believe in Him. You may say, “Father, of course I believe in Jesus!”
We believe in many things, but what of those things we believe in most strongly? Children, perhaps, can be our greatest teachers when it comes to the power of belief, for in their innocence there is little to no rationalization to take the edge off of its power. For instance when I was a child growing up on a farm in rural Iowa, we had a large, old barn on our property and within it was a room, fully enclosed, with a wooden door sealed shut by a rusty latch. My younger brother and I, even in our early middle school years, refused to go inside, having all sorts of beliefs about the creatures that lurked within the dark cell. Only when armed with flashlights and BB guns did we finally dare enter, only to find it completely empty and surprisingly clean. Think of the child at Christmas time eagerly awaiting Santa Claus. Think of the child terrified of the creature under the bed, so much so that they do not dare let even a toe dangle over the edge. A child’s belief had a deep impact on their reality and how they live their life: hence why Jesus says, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 18:3).
Many say they believe in Jesus, but have precious little fruit to show for it: their belief has almost no impact on how they live. As Christians our first work must be about believing in Jesus, and not merely on an intellectual level but in such a way that our belief in Him is the founding principle of our whole reality and view of the world. In a way we must love our belief almost as much as we love the object of our belief; the word itself comes from the Old English belyfan, which itself comes from various old Germanic words that ultimately mean “to hold dear, to care, to desire, to love.” To believe, therefore, is to love.
“…you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” This is a truth Jesus sought to help the crowds understand; He pointed out their desire to believe in Jesus by zeroing in on the fact they were not pursuing Him because He’d done something amazing, but because they experienced fulfilment by what He had given them. Their hearts, by way of St. Augustine’s famous words, found rest in Him, even if for a moment, and they craved that rest and satisfaction. What labor must we therefore undertake to come to that blessed rest, that Sabbath that brings peace not merely to the flesh, but to the heart and soul? We must labor, as Jesus says, to believe in Him, to love Him, to allow that belief to permeate every aspect of our lives. And it does take work! Yet those whose Christian lives are lived with that fullness, that integrity of faith, find an otherwise elusive peace: a peace the world cannot give (John 14:27).