The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.’”

—John 4:34

Our food is our sustenance—the thing that keeps us going and powers us on. Physical food does this for the body. But what sustains the soul?

Some might say it’s their children, their job, or a relationship. There are an infinite number of things people might put in that place.

But as fellow heirs with Jesus Christ, we have a new nature like his (2 Corinthians 5:17), and we have his mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). And because we are now like him, our spiritual food—the thing that both nourishes our spirit and spurs us on—is to do the work of the Father.

This is not a passive task. It’s something we do—we are doers, not just hearers (James 1:22).

Accomplishing the Lord’s work will definitely include our children, our jobs, our relationships, and many other good things in life, but those things themselves are not the sustenance of our souls. If we treat them as our soul’s food, we will either consume them in the end, or they will consume us. They’re not meant to be the purpose, but they are meant to receive the benefit of our soul’s nourishment. 

If we treat those things as an outflow of doing our Father’s work, they will reap the benefits in the outpouring of his Spirit, and we will flourish as well.

If we look honestly at our day–to–day life, what is our food? What are we using to fuel our souls?

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