Words from the Rock
I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 6:35 NLT
This is a very bold statement, and one that many of Jesus’s listeners could not quite wrap their heads around. Was Jesus suggesting that they were supposed to turn cannibal and actually eat him? Seriously, some people asked this very question. Yet this is only the beginning of what will be a long string of food metaphors in which Jesus doesn’t simply compare himself to food; he actually says he is food.
Of course, you probably know by now (at least in your head) that Jesus is talking about spiritual food. The problem is that he’s trying to get this message across to an audience who isn’t very good at listening with spiritual ears. To them, food is food, drink is drink. They’re confused.
Maybe you are too. Can you grasp the reality that Jesus wants you to be so connected to him that it’s almost as if you had physically consumed him? He wants to be such an integral part of your life that it’s as if he’s asking you to take a great big bite of him and hold that within you. Maybe that creeps you out. If that’s the case, it’s because you’re hearing his words with your physical ears instead of your spiritual ones.
Jesus wants to pour himself into you so much that you won’t feel spiritually empty or famished. He wants to nurture that deep hunger inside of you until you’re full. He wants to satisfy you with himself, his love, his forgiveness, his mercy, his joy, his grace—so many things he wants to fill you up with. But until you recognize that you’re spiritually starving without him, he can’t do it. He doesn’t force himself on anyone.
My Prayer
Dear God,
I know that I’m spiritually hungry, but sometimes I forget to come to you. Please fill my empty spaces with all you have for me. Satisfy my longing with your presence.
Amen.
Final Word
As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him?
Psalm 42:1–2 TLB
Stone for the Journey
Only God can fill the emptiness inside of me.