“You Have Reaped The Benefits

Of Their Labor”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

John 4:27-38

We sometimes wonder if the disciples were so consumed with thinking about food that they could not see past their picnic.

It’s easy to become preoccupied with needs of the moment. But Jesus invites us to get beyond our own interests – our own “lunches” – to open our eyes to the souls who are searching for answers to their deepest needs.

Join Jesus at the well, and let Him use you to tell others about the spiritual food only He can give.

Be hungry to satisfy the needs of others around you.

Our Daily Bread – May 22, 2013