THE BREAD OF LIFE

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)

There is within every human heart a hunger for God.  God and God alone can satisfy that longing of our soul.  Sadly, many turn to the world to seek to fill that gnawing void.  It is like trying to quench thirst by drinking water from the ocean—the more you drink of that brine, the thirstier you become.  To go into eternity in that condition is to be in a place of unending thirst—without so much as one drop of water to cool the tongue.  Since only God can fill that emptiness, should a man or woman choose a life without God, then He will at death saturate their existence with His absence.  What a horrible thing to contemplate!  It is our choice.  God makes Himself available.  We may feast on Him and have life, but He will not cram Himself down our throats.  We must reach out a hand of faith, take His life into our own—feed upon Him and live forever in heaven with Him.

The Bread that God gives is His Son.  Jesus plainly said that He is the Bread of Life.  In the first century, bread was the basic food staple—the stuff of life.  You could not run to the grocery store and find shelves stocked with a wide variety of food.  The Jews would have equated the two—you have bread and you live; you do not and you starve.  If we feed upon Christ we have eternal life.  He promises to meet the heart hunger and fully satisfy the thirst in our heart—for He is likewise the Water of Life—a Well that never runs dry.  Bread and water—we can survive on that!

It is the privilege of the believer to daily feed upon that Bread of Life.  We come to Him and receive nourishment and strength to sustain us on our journey.  The Psalmist beckoned,

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”  (Ps.34:8)

For eighteen years of my life, I sought satisfaction in this world.  I consumed all I could which appealed to my carnal appetite.  It seemed so sweet to the taste, but was a poison in my soul.  The momentary pleasure of sin that made me salivate with anticipation could never deliver all it promised.  In fact, when the waiter brought the bill for what had been consumed, it cost far more than what it was worth—the high cost of low-living!  In a sense of desperation, I turned to Christ.  I tasted the Bread of Life—and I am so glad I did!  I have found Him to be all that I longed for, and all I could ever need.

Dear reader, please, if you have not received Him, do so today—not as some morsel to sample among a wide-variety of delicacies that this world offers—but as He truly is—life itself!  You will never hunger and never thirst again!