Our life in Christ Jesus is a race set by God. Jesus is our finish line – the target, we cannot run the race without keeping our eyes on him, slight distraction because of the difficulties can make us failure along the way. Jesus started our faith (He is the source) and brings it to completion (He perfects it). So Hebrew 12:1-2 says, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”. Let us see what Jesus practiced and see the desires of his Father, our Father.
Working
Jesus says, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” (John 5:17).
Taking a worldly example of a small son and a father, we can either visualize in our own home or of neighbors. If a small kid sees his father doing something – he tries to follow that. A profound truth is – if your kid never has seen you studying books but is always busy on mobile screens watching news, tic-tocks, YouTubes, shorts, and you ask your kid to study his books, you can imagine what would be the response. You are right, he may tell you back, I have never seen you reading books, why am I alone reading books? A father who wakes up late in the morning would find it hard to train his children to wake up early in the morning. A smoker father would find it hard to tell his children to stay away from smoking cigarettes.
It is about living as an example, sowing truth, and walking in accountability.
That is why God has been working continuously, he neither faints nor is weary(Isaiah 40:28). Faith without action is dead(James 2;26). Jesus wanted to imitate the faith of father – so he kept seeing father work, and did the same work. That is the reality of a true son.
See Father working on
John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
For Jesus, the desire was nothing but father and his works. He never worked for himself. Because he knows that what Father does is the best, and the manner Father follows is the best – there is nothing better than this in heaven and earth. Powerful truth is – Father loves the son, and shows him all things that He himself is doing. Because of the love father has for the son, father wants his son to do the best – and it’s what father himself does. Father has great desire to reveal the things he himself does – but are we ready for that, are we humble enough to have a full trust in him for this?
A loving father invites his children to walk with him and witness the work of his hands.
Hearing Father speak
John 12:49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
This is a radical truth that most of the believers don’t hear Father speak. When we don’t hear our father speak – we speak nothing of him but ours – which is carnal, which mostly could be self centered. John emphasizes this in John 7:18 this way, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him”.
Hearing is always connected to a picture – otherwise it won’t be a proper understanding. If someone says – “I have a smart phone” and the listener can’t picture it – it becomes meaningless. Whenever Jesus listened to Father speak he would picture it, and it would become reality to men. The great humility of Jesus is – he never initiated any talk or word without hearing Father speak it.
We read in John 8:1-11, Jesus had to face religious leaders and the adulterous woman. He was questioned about the law of Moses – and was tested to stone that woman. But Jesus didn’t respond to them immediately, tried to wait for Father to say something to respond to those religious leaders. So he pretended to write something on the sand, and spoke at the end only after he heard from Father. This is what we are to follow. It’s not a single day task, it may take ages for us to master it, but this is our finish line – Christ Jesus himself.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. True faith is not self-made; it is born as we hear the Word of Christ. As Scripture says, “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17). There is no other way.
Paul made a great statement in the Epistle to Philippians.
Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were a gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
This reveals to us how Paul was focused on Jesus, no distraction at all because that was a loss for him. I count all things to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. The fullness of God is in Christ alone(Colossians 1:19).
It’s nothing wrong to use this visualization for our material gain. If the world is practicing this – then definitely, it’s not significant enough for a child of God. If God is the source, owner of everything – and a believer is his heir – co-heir of Christ, why should God want a believer to focus on material gains.
When we fix our hearts on material gain, we risk shifting our focus from the Creator to His creation. God calls us not to chase things, but to trust Him—the loving Father and Master Builder of our lives. In His wisdom, He shapes our future far better than we ever could.
If we consider our local church pastors or elders a godly man, we could follow them to see how God is working. It could be our spiritual mentor or spiritual father, an example we see how God is working or speaking to us or revealing his work to us. But let’s not forget – Christ alone is our finish line, our benchmark – his ways should be our ways. Let’s fix our eyes on him as an ultimate reference – word of God. You can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit.