Bread

"And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst'."
John 6:35

Lately, the Lord has been impressing upon my heart, the image of just sitting at the feet of Jesus, and feeding on His Word that comes from His hand. Just as a shepherd provides the loving nourishment for the sheep, so too, Jesus provides nourishment for our souls from His Word. It is my prayer that we are in the Word often enough (every day is good) that we begin to recognize the voice of Him as He calls to us, and speaks to us through His Word. A lot of times, He speaks to us, but we just don't recognize His voice. Let us be in the Word, beloved, so that we can recognize the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts.

In this day of diets and a focus on what we eat, I read this verse and think about what it would be like to never physically hunger again. In America, and perhaps around the world, I'm not sure, but we have made eating not a necessity, but an entertainment event. Never having to worry about being hungry again, physically, would mean a lot of time and energy normally spent on thinking and planning eating events, now could be spent focused on other things. In the same way, spiritually, Jesus is telling us here, that He is our sustenance, and that we need not look anywhere else but to Him for our fulfillment. He is our provider. He Himself is the provision. He is our sustenance. He nourishes us physically, and quenches that thirst of our souls.

Jesus is what it is all about. Not our church, not our personal comfort. Not what our church can do for us. It is about who Jesus is, and our relationship with Him. So beloved, concentrate on your relationship with Jesus, and let church, and people, and all the rest fade into the background. Sometimes we concentrate on what we are supposed to be doing that we lose sight of being. Am I saying that church and people are not important? No, I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is that when we concentrate on Jesus, and just sitting at His feet, and being fed by Him, then we don't have to worry so much if our pastor is feeding us, because Jesus is the source, not the pastor. The pastor is just a conduit anyway. It all comes from Jesus. If we focus on Jesus, then our church life will be better, and our love for people will grow.

Jesus is the bread of life. Think about that. Never having to hunger, spiritually, again. He is the living water. Never having to thirst for those things that we think we are thirsty for, those things that we believe will quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger. Allow the Holy Spirit to take His Word, and make it alive in our lives. Let our hearts be sensitive to hear Him speak, and give us the courage to be obedient. Jesus is our life. Get into His Word, and let His Word get into you. Amen.