“I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” John 6:35 NIV
“Things that are external can never satisfy the cravings that are eternal.”
My thoughts today are about “your necessary food.”
Hunger is a very strong motivation, often impossible to ignore. And I think that inner alert is God-given. God crafted your body to know when it needs replenishing, whether for nutrition, rest, or exercise. The body responds to its lack by sending a signal and waiting for the expected response.
If the signal is ignored and no help comes, the body begins protecting its vital organs by shutting down things less essential and redirecting the diminishing supply of the body’s stored resources where most needed. To supply the heart, lungs, and brain, the body grows weaker and weaker waiting for nourishment, and the process of starving begins.
The human spirit is like the physical body, also made to need nourishment and replenishing. Make no mistake; there is a hunger of the soul. People often ignore that hunger, or misinterpret their inner longings, trying to fill their growing emptiness with many things that can never satisfy – money, possessions, busyness, thrills, amusements, sex, drugs, alcohol – always to excess and yet never enough. They don’t recognize the origin of the soul’s hunger. Things that are external can never satisfy the cravings that are eternal. Listen to your heart; feed your soul. “I have esteemed the words of Your mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23:12.
Jesus, the Bread of Life, invites you to know that He alone will satisfy the deepest and greatest longings, and you will “never go hungry.” His ample supply is always available and ever abundant but not automatic; you have to come to Him. Here’s how Jesus taught you to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11. Jesus is that bread given to you everyday; enjoy your fill. “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.” John 6:50-51.
You receive this life-giving, daily bread through the regular practice of true worship (John 4:23-24), personal prayer (Ephesians 6:18/Romans 12:12), time with your Bible (Psalm 119:11), thoughtful reflection on truth (Psalm 1:1-3), and meaningful fellowship with others who are seeking the same Source and satisfaction, as are you (Hebrews 10:24-25). Those are your necessary food!
These important, spiritual disciplines provide satisfaction that is much more full and lasting than any and everything else with which you might attempt to feed your soul. Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6.
My prayer for you today is for an appetite only for the right things.