The Bread of Life

Greetings in the Lord!

Do you ever get those verses that no matter how many times you read them, the meaning just seems to elude you?  The best is when you run it by someone else and they get it right off the bat, and you just stand there feeling really dim.  Yeah, sometimes it's like that.

"All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied."  Ecclesiastes 6:7

Now, I bet you got that right away, didn't you?  Well, I had to look up other translations to see more about it....and I got this.

"All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough."  

and this:

"Every person works for his own self-interests, but his desires remain unsatisfied."  

By then I had gotten the meaning and the cross reference from John 6:26-27 that I have been reading over the past couple of months:

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs 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.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." 

Now I understand the word for today.  It is about people who try and fullfill their appetites by getting other people's attention, or by other pursuits, but ultimately, they will still not be satisfied.  Jesus advises us to turn our attention to Him, to "eat His flesh and drink His blood," for if we try to feast on anything other than Him we will not have eternal life.  Of course, this feasting is not literal, but rather, a spiritual concept of having all our desires met through Christ alone.  Jesus alone can meet our every need, and He knows what we need even before we ask Him!

Have you ever met really needy people?  Or are you yourself feeling like you are empty and needing attention from others?  You know, this "appetite" for closeness and attention is normal.  Take the advice from Jesus, feast on Him!  That's right, begin a relationship with Him by simply asking Him to come into your life, to meet your needs, to guide and comfort you, to heal and set you free from the lonliness and emptiness that sometimes fills our days. 

"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."  John 6:53

It's interesting that these words of Jesus were so upsetting for many of his "followers," that they left him at that time.  Yep, just up and left.  It was easier to follow Him when He was handing out food that they could eat, but now he was telling them to lay down their self-interests and to pursue a deeper relationship with Him.  Do you want a free meal or an eternity of breaking bread with the Savior?  

I remember once going with a mission to feed the homeless and poor in the urban neighborhoods of St. Louis, Missouri.  One black male in his early thirties came up to our van and asked for two sandwiches, which he stuffed in his coat and then groped the young woman who gave him the sandwiches.  She jumped back and ran inside the van.  Then he approached me and said, "Can I have another sandwich?" with a big smirk on his face.  I got hot with anger and felt the Holy Spirit rising up in me.

"No, you may not have another sandwich," said gritting my teeth.  "The Lord says that 'you know better than that.'  You were raised in the church; you're mother took you every Sunday and you know better than how you are living," and I continued to tell him all the Lord was putting in my heart to tell him.  He didn't get mad; he just listened and received the word, nodding his head.  I prayed that he would get off the streets, but you know what, it's easy to live off of handouts.  It's easy to pursue your own desires and suck the bloodlife out of everyone around you because you are too rebellious to turn to God.  It's easy to feast on all the 'candy' the world has to offer till your teeth fall out of your head and you've lost all your strength and life doesn't excite you anymore.  One of the biggest, if not the biggest pitfall in life, is complacency.  We want it easy, always.  The devil gives easy answers, but only Jesus is the real solution.  

      

~Be blessed and be a blessing.