Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” – John 6:29 NLT

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. – 1 John 3:23 NLT

Many people wonder and ask themselves, “What work does God want me to do?” The Apostle John makes the answer very clear for us. We are to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another. That sounds easy on the surface, but is it really?

Believe. Jesus said that to believe on Him is the only work God wants from us. The only work? Why? Because no other work for God is possible until we believe. To believe is the foundation, the starting point of all our other work. Once this first work of belief is done, God can add other works according to His will.

To believe in this context means more than to acknowledge that Jesus exists. It means we have accepted what the Bible tells us about Jesus as truth and have applied this truth to our life through obedience and a personal relationship with Him. And what is it that the Bible tells us that we believe? We believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, died, was resurrected, ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and at the appointed time, He is coming back to take those of us who believe to live forever with Him and God. Hallelujah!

But, John adds that we must love one another after our first work of believing. Loving those who love and are nice to us is easy. But, loving those who do not love and are not nice to us is only possible once we truly believe and have had our heart changed and opened to loving Jesus. We must first believe, and through our belief, love for Jesus comes. Then, through our love for Jesus, we are willing and able to love others.

So, the answer to our question, “What work does God want me to do?” is answered. We are to believe on His Son, Jesus, and to love others. From this solid foundation, other work may be added for God’s glory and praise.