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By Mike Caton

John 6:43, “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.

I know Jesus said these words to a specific group of people who were dealing with a specific situation. They were grumbling about Jesus claiming to be the bread that came down from heaven. They simply couldn’t accept him for who he said he was. And yet, they cannot refute his wisdom; they don’t want to accept what he says, they don’t want to think he is who he claims to be, and yet they cannot prove him wrong. And so they do what so many of us do, they grumble among themselves, they reject him, they reject his ideas, and they complain about it.

It seems that grumbling among ourselves has become a favorite activity of many people. It is to hot outside (and later it will be too cold), the preacher doesn’t dress right, the music is too whatever (you can fill in the blank, too old, too modern, too loud, too fast, too slow, not loud enough and so forth), those folks are not dressed right, the prices at the grocery store are too high, they don’t have the items I want, that car is driving too slow, they are driving too fast, like a maniac and on and on and on. But what does our grumbling really accomplish? It has no effect on the other person, they probably can’t even hear us. And it keeps us wound up, stewing on the problem, instead of allowing us to let it go. And so we stay tied in our knot of stress and frustration.

Instead, we ought to seek the truth and accept it. That would have been appropriate for the Jews mentioned in the passage above and no doubt us in many cases as well. And we ought to look for the bright side in those situations. At least the store had something we could get and we did have money to pay for it. We are still getting where we want to go, though maybe not as fast, and maybe we will enjoy the scenery on the trip. Instead of focusing on what is wrong, we should focus on what is right. And my friends, there is nothing as right as Jesus! We need to commit our lives to him.

Father, help me stop grumbling. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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