Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Formula for Following Jesus | The Gospels | John 6:25-40

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

Do you approach your faith like a checklist? Have you ever felt frustrated when your spiritual growth seems to plateau? What if Jesus never intended the Christian life to be a self-improvement project? In today's episode, Jensen shares how John 6:25-40 reveals that following Jesus isn't ultimately about doing more, but about believing in and surrendering to him. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 6:25-40

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. You know the Nike slogan. Just do it. Just do it. Stop making excuses. Just get up and do the thing. They're obviously talking about physical exertion, but I think our culture embodies this spirit in basically every way. We are a group of go-getters. Not that all of us are intrinsically motivated like this, I will say I do not always relate, but I can see that the mantras of the world around me center on the idea that if you want something, if you want to be someone, if you want to possess something, then it's up to you to start. Start today. Put in the work. Just do it. So it doesn't shock me that when we approach the Bible, oftentimes we approach it with the same attitude. We approach the Bible asking, what do I need to do to be a good Christian? What rules should I follow? What kind of people should I hang out with? How many hours should I give a week to Bible reading,

praying, should I be serving, I should probably serve. Where's the best place I could serve? We want a list of things we can do so we can become successful Christians. Start today, put in the work, and become like Jesus. But if you've ever tried to just do anything, you know that white knuckling it is hard. It's hard to be consistent. It's easier to do it when it's working, when you're seeing progress. Think about eating healthier and working out. When it's going well, it's motivating. You can do the things because you see the results. But then you hit a plateau. Nothing is changing. The work is hard, and you feel like you're failing. Or maybe you hit your goal and so you stop doing the things. And so slowly, your body goes back to the way that it was. See, to have a healthy body, you have to maintain a healthy

diet. You have to remain active. And you have to consistently do the things. And it's hard to do when it doesn't feel as exciting. And when the results work against you, it's, frustrating, defeating. Well, we can do the same thing with our faith. We decide to do the things, to become like Jesus. And you may do a couple weeks of deep Bible reading. You may pray often. You may feel better, feel more connected. But eventually, life catches up. Things get busy. You get tired. Your zeal for the project wanes. And you wake up one day and realize it's been weeks since you've read your Bible. Or no matter how much you read the Bible, no matter how much you prayed, no matter how much work you do or how much you try, you still yell at your kids. You still gossip at work. You

fall into sexual temptation. You end up thinking the things you're doing just must not be the right things. So you go back to the Bible, you try to find out the rules, the structure, the things to do to get it right next time. Now, we aren't unlike the crowds who followed Jesus in this way. In John 6, the day after Jesus feeds the 5,000, the crowds wake up and seek him out, and they find him on the other side of the lake, and they ask him, hey, when did you get here? And Jesus answers, very truly I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw the signs are reformed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man

will give you, for on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. What is Jesus saying to the crowds here? He's saying, you're looking for me. But not because you saw the miracle I did and recognized that I was the son of God, but because I fed you. I met your physical needs, and you want more of the material benefits that I can give you. But he pushes back on this and says, don't work for food that spoils for material benefit, work for food that endures food I can give you as a son of man. And obviously they're in, because like us, they just want to know what they need to do. What is the work they have to do to get the bread that doesn't spoil? How can they work for the benefit to get what they want? So they ask, what must we do to do the works God requires? See, they're looking for a to do list,

work they can accomplish. They're used to the Pharisees. Ask a Pharisees. Ask a Pharisee. see how to be close to God and you'll get a list, a big list of rules to follow. So they're approaching Jesus in that same way. Give it to us. And what does he say? Jesus answered, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent. The work and the one he's sent to believe in Jesus. It's not a list of things you can do, it's a belief. To shift your understanding, to shift from the belief that there is something you can do to get this bread of life towards believing there is one who got his sent. But the crowds, they aren't convinced. So they asked Jesus what sign he'll send to prove that they should believe him. They asked for a sign like the manna from Moses that he gave

to God's people in the wilderness. Jesus again answers them, very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, always give us this bread. Jesus says, it wasn't Moses who gave you the bread. It was the father. The father is the one who can provide for your needs. Only he can give you the bread of life. Jesus knows that they want something from God. They want to do the things he wants so that they can get the things they want from him. So they're like, absolutely Jesus. Give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never grow hungry,

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me, and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who set me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my father's will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. So Jesus, he's saying that he is the gift. He is the bread, the bread that sustains, the bread that gives life, the bread that came down from heaven to give life to the world, come to him in belief,

and you will never be hungry again. Jesus says his whole mission is to care for those who come to him to keep them, to raise them up at the last day. The formula for following Jesus isn't to get your act together, to do all the things so that you can become like him so that you can be a good Christian. Now, the formula is surrendering your life as he did. To come to Jesus, to allow him to do the work. And you will only come if you believe that he's the only one who can do the work that needs to be done to give you life. Jesus himself tells us that he is the goal. He is the gift, his life, the bread we need. As we come to him, it's by his power that we are transformed, that our bodies are given new life. See, there's no way to be a good Christian by doing something.

because being a Christian it isn't about being moral or following a formula or a code for how to live. Being a Christian is about following Jesus, drawing near to him, living in his power, being with him, depending on him like we depend on the food on our plate for survival. He is the bread that we need. We can try to do things in our own power, but without the bread of life, we will always grow hungry. we will always be too weak. When the crowds ask Jesus what work they can do, he doesn't tell them another thing to do. He tells them to surrender and receive the gift.

Receive him, his presence, his life. Because as we draw near to him, as we come to him, he promises to keep us, to sustain our faith to hold us steady throughout this life until by his power he redeems us to eternal life alongside him forever. You see, the only way to become like Jesus is by simply surrendering to him and being with him. And what a gift this truth is. To a world that is exhausted from the mantra of just do it. Tired of failing, tired of falling short, tired of trying all the time. Jesus says, believe, come to me,

I've already done the work that needs to be done. I will do the work to transform your lifeless body, to transform it into an eternal one. Trust me. Believe me. Put your faith in me. Surrender. May you find rest in Jesus's answer. May it bring peace to your life. May the witness of your surrendered life

to the only one who can sustain, bring others to recognize the goodness, the freedom, the relief that it is to follow Jesus. His burden is light. His yoke is easy. Believe. and come to him today.