Bread of Life.

Have you ever known someone for a short time, but it felt like you have known them for a lifetime?  Somehow they were a missing piece of the puzzle of your life?  Then maybe they move or even pass away.  They are no longer with you.  If you would have known that…maybe you would have changed your conversations.  Maybe you wouldn’t have talked about petty things; instead you would have gotten to deep meaningful conversations from the start. 

John 6:35 says “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Here Jesus is explaining that HE is very manna from heaven.  It took his Jewish listeners back in their history when they were begging God for something to eat and God provided manna (bread) from heaven!  Jesus is the only person, the only thing that fill our desires; he is the only one that can quench our thirst.  So, now imagine the disciples... Jesus worked with them for three years.  Three years really isn’t that long when standing next to a lifetime.  So, Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and then pours his life into them.  He knew his lifetime would end abruptly, but they didn’t.  Since he knew, he didn’t waste his time on petty things.  He was intentional about making a lesson out of ordinary things of life.  Jesus wanted to change his disciple’s life.  I would say he was successful.  After all, he is the “Bread of Life”.

Even though Jesus hinted at the fact that he would leave the Earth early, they were still picturing the day that he would establish an earthly kingdom and sit on the royal throne and rule.  But, if they would have known that their time was only three years together, would they have done things differently?  After all, this was the man that was our very sustenance.  Would they have asked more questions?  Would they have spent all their time with him?  Would they have betrayed him or fallen asleep in Gethsemane or would they have argued over who would sit at his right hand or would they have questioned why allowed perfume to be poured on him?  Obviously these questions are rhetorical and we don’t need to bother going in depth trying to find the answer.  Rather, we should ask ourselves the same questions.

So, here is the lesson for today:  We don’t know how long we have on this earth.  Are we spending our time on meaningful things or are we wasting our time on frivolous things?  Are we soaking up the teachings of Christ in order to live an abundant life?  When we lean on Jesus for our understanding, we can’t go wrong because he is the Bread of Life.