You might be familiar with the story of “the feeding of the five thousand.” Jesus is up on a mountain top with his disciples and thousands and thousands of people who are watching as Jesus performs sign after sign. Healings. Miracles. And nobody (obviously) wants to leave! But, they needed to eat.
And Jesus has a plan. Remember the little boy? He takes his five loaves of bread and two fish and He multiplies them to feed the entire crowd with leftovers to spare. People are so amazed, the Bible says they wanted to take Jesus forcefully to make him king right then and there! But, it seems as though Jesus is disappointed. I’ll tell you why. He knows the people aren’t really after Him. They don’t seem to care about who Jesus is and who He could be for them, but simply what He can do for them.
Listen to His words, Jesus says this, “you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed 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. . . . I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:26-27, and 35.
What does Jesus mean? Jesus is the bread who offers eternal life to anyone who believes, but we are also invited to find daily provision. Not just provision for the future but daily, physical, spiritual, emotional, and relational provision for our life through Jesus. See Jesus offers eternal life that is abundant and fully satisfied in Him now and for forever.
When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray He says “Lord, give us this day, our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) Not “give me everything I need for the rest of my life so I’m good to go on my own. I’ll take it from here.” No, the Lord’s prayer is “give me what I need today, and then I’ll come back again tomorrow.” This requires dependence. And being dependent on someone else is hard! Isn’t it? But when we acknowledge our neediness, and actively trust Him daily, we get to experience God as the Bread of Life. Not just know it intellectually. Everything we need is found in HIM. Love acceptance, security. Jesus’ presence is what is so deeply satisfying.
Maybe you’re a follower of Jesus but you’re finding yourself still hungry and thirsty. Are you dependent on Jesus and experience the abundant and satisfied life in Him? Or have you been looking somewhere else or maybe to someone else to quench your spiritual hunger and thirst? You’re not crazy.
To find satisfaction in the bread of life we have to become aware of and then surrender these things to Him. It’s only in His kindness that He even wants to bring it up. He loves you so much He doesn’t want you to keep running to places that only satisfy for a bit, when He’s there, ready to satisfy period. Satisfaction from other things is like trying to fill up on junk food that will not leave you feeling good when you could be sitting at a banquet table with a feast in front of you! I invite you to take a moment now to consider this. Where have you been looking to quench your spiritual hunger and thirst? Your spouse? Maybe you’re longing for a spouse? Kids? Friendships? Job opportunities? Even hobbies? Even good things! See I believe it with my whole heart that no one other than Jesus, the bread of life, can truly provide for all of our needs and satisfy our hearts completely, forever. In Christ we have everything we need because Christ is everything we need.
Let’s pray. Jesus, thank you that you are the bread of life. Thank you for In you we have everything we need because you are everything we need. We don’t want to simply come to you once for what we need, we want to come back to you day after day, hour after hour, to be near you. And to find what we need in Your presence. Lord, make us aware of the people and things we look to to satisfy us and would you help us find your satisfaction in you alone. We love you. Fill us to the measure of all of the fullness of you, we pray. Amen.
