21 Days in the Gospel of John With Levi Lusko Sample

What Are You Doing?

The disciples had just had a pretty crazy few weeks. They’d discovered that their leader had risen from the dead, they’d sat in on the first Sunday church service in history, and they’d been sent by Jesus into all the world to tell people about Him. Now, a few of them are gathered together at the lake, wondering what they’re going to do, and Peter throws out a gem of an idea:

“Let’s go fishing.”

WHAT? The most important news in the world is sitting on the tip of their tongues and they are going fishing? How can this be?

Here’s why: getting lost is pretty easy. Nowadays, we have iPhones with map apps, compasses, and GPS, yet even with the tools to know better, we still find ourselves lost all the time. This is the case spiritually and physically. The disciples saw Jesus, touched Him, and had the Holy Spirit inside of them, but they still ended up off course. Surely they were a little discouraged by the many times they’d let Jesus down. Maybe they simply were not convinced that Jesus needed them any more.

That is a question we still must answer today: does God really need us? The answer is, of course, no. God doesn’t need us. The Bible shows us this when God used a donkey to rebuke a prophet that got out of line. Imagine sitting at Starbucks and a squirrel sneaks up onto your table and starts sharing the gospel with you—“If you reject Jesus, you’re nuts!” Think about the rocks crying out, and all of the angels, and the sheer fact that God breathed the universe into existence—clearly we are not needed.

So then why does God use us? The answer is that He enjoys our involvement.

My daughter, Alivia, went through a phase where she copied us all the time. Whether cleaning, or the laundry, or helping put together a bookshelf, she was always coming behind us to help us with what we were doing. Now, was she really helping? No. In fact, she often undid the work that we started. So why did we let her keep helping? Because we loved her involvement; the fact that she wanted to be a part was a blessing to us.

This is the heart of God. He doesn’t need us, but loves our involvement. In life, everything we do with God is a team effort (even though He does all the work). In evangelism it’s the same way. He alone can save, but He uses us to share the gospel while He works on the hearts.

Remember: Our great God wants us greatly involved.