Why do I look for God?

Jesus answered, "You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs - and for free.  John 6:23

Sebastian Stoskopff, Nature aux fruits

My Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread.

The way to a man's heart is through his belly, they say! Is Jesus being pointed here? What's his tone? Our response to God is often complex; mixed motives allied to simple devotion, as jumbled as a buffet. Jesus moves on to talk of himself as bread, offered right now, in front of us - the real bread, the genuine pure article.

I receive Jesus' question 'Why have you come looking for me?' What do I discern he wants to offer me.  I allow such questions space within me, room for a heartfelt dialogue.

Pick up your mat and walk

When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to be healed?" The man answered, "Lord, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first." Jesus told him, "Pick up your mat and walk!" John 5:6-8

Yoann Boyer, unsplash.com 

To the point

Jesus has been trying to tread carefully. On one side he does not want the attention that would drive an agenda forward too quickly. On the other, the prophet in him wishes to cut through swathes of red tape ('you can't heal on the Sabbath') and break up patterns ('someone always gets there first'). To the leaders he is now labelled as one who causes trouble, whose statements of authority lead them to contemplate murder.

Interestingly, the healed man did not know Jesus, He had come to him out of the blue, addressing him directly and cleanly "Do you want to be healed?", his response may be evasive, maybe slow.  He is also invited to act, "pick up your mat and walk".

As I listen within me to this simple and direct question (do you want to be healed?) what do I hear or see?

Is there a prayer or action that emerges?