Are you really hungry for the Bread of Life?
Bread isn’t as important in our diet today as it used to be in ancient times. You would be very surprised if you went out to eat and bread was the main course. Today, when you go to a restaurant, often the first thing they bring you is a basket of bread. The bread is complimentary. It’s just a starter provided to tide you over until the better food arrives. You can eat it or not. It doesn’t matter because it isn’t the main meal. But in ancient times you didn’t pass on the bread without going hungry. Bread was the main part of their diet.
With that in mind, listen to what Jesus says in John 6:35: “Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst.” Wow – what a thing to say! When Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life” in that culture, it really got their attention. Remember, bread wasn’t an afterthought or a side dish to those people. They understood that Jesus was saying, “You need me every day. You need me every minute. You can’t make it without me. I’m the bread of life. I’m the central issue of your life. Without me, you’ll perish.”
It’s still true for us. Nothing is more important than Jesus. You can do without a lot of things, but you can’t do anything without Jesus. Jesus isn’t a side salad. He’s not something in a basket at the end of the table that you can take or leave. He is the source and center of life.
Ultimately, life just doesn’t work unless you believe that Jesus is the main thing you need to survive. House or no house, you must have bread. Job or no job, you must have bread. You can take all the other stuff on the table and send it back with the waiter, and just put the Bread of Life right in the center. Jesus is the important thing – everything else is extra. The Bread of Life is the most important thing in your home, in your marriage, in your life. While we may pursue the dreams that God gives us, that pursuit should never eclipse Jesus at the center.
Have you ever ordered at a drive-through window and been asked, “Would you like fries with that?” They’re saying, “Look, fries are not the reason we’re in existence. You’ve already ordered the main dish that we’re known for, but I want to know if you want this one little afterthought of a side dish to go with it.” Could it be that when God looks at our busy lives and sees us going here and there, working, playing, and enjoying all our blessings, at some point His Spirit cries out, “Do you want some God with that?” God can’t be the afterthought or side dish in our life. He has to be the most important part of our lives.
So…are you really hungry for the Bread of Life? Is Jesus really at the center of everything you do? God is calling you out of your routine. Fast and pray and ask the Lord to fill you with a hunger for the main dish – the only thing that really matters – the Bread of Life.
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