Scripture:
John 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Observation:
After Jesus had fed the 5,000, He then retreated away from the crowd because He knew that their desire was to make Him King by force. When the crowd pursued and found Him the next morning they asked Him why He had left. Jesus responded by telling them they weren’t following Him because of the signs but rather because He had given them bread. He then explained that physical bread is not their greatest need. Rather, eternal life is the greatest need of mankind and Jesus is the “bread of God”.
Application:
1. Recognize my greatest need. As real as hunger pains and thirst are to my physical body, my greatest need has nothing to do with my flesh. Instead my greatest need is eternal life.
2. Recognize who supplies my greatest need. If eternal life is my greatest need I must recognize there is only one place to go to receive it, Jesus.
3. Reject the desire to use Jesus to get my physical desires met without a true desire to follow Him as my Master.
4. Remember that Jesus came down to the world, not just for my family, our church, our community and me. Jesus came to give life to everyone. May I have the boldness to take the bread of life to the ends of the earth. What Jesus offers is what everyone needs, regardless of culture or continent.
Prayer:
Father, forgive me for using you to get my fill. Forgive me for receiving your great love and then being stingy with it. Thank you for the Bread of Life you offer through Christ. Lord, help me continue to trust Jesus as my source of life. May I see myself for what I am; “a beggar who found bread and is telling others beggars where I found it.”