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Thursday, October 18th (Day Four)

Read:
John 6:22-59

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

Reflect:
Food is a powerful controlling influence in our culture, and it was not much different during the time of Christ. Not long before Jesus taught the crowd the words in John 6:22-59, he performed a miracle involving food. He fed over 5,000 people using only five barley loaves and two fish. He had become, for a large crowd, their own personal magician - someone who could provide them what they desired on a moment's notice. This, the crowds decided, was a good person to have around.

Jesus refuses to be anyone's personal good luck charm, and when the crowds brought up the issue of food in John 6:22 as a way to entice Jesus to give them some more bread to eat, he offered them himself instead. Jesus is the bread of life. He is what we need. Everything else we could ever possess in this world pales in comparison to the incomparable gift of being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

You may have plenty of bread to eat, metaphorically speaking, but without Christ you are still starving. On the other hand, you may be lacking what others around you seem to possess in spades, but in Christ, you are full. This is the mystery of the gospel, and it reminds us that often the things to which we assign the most value are of very little value, whereas in Christ we possess all.

Apply:

1. Are you ever tempted to view your relationship with Jesus as a "quid pro quo" - that if you are faithful he owes you material rewards? How does this passage challenge this approach to Christianity?
2. How does Christ being the bread of life help refocus your attention away from the things you strive after in order to fill you?

Pray:

1. That you would be filled with Christ as the bread of life and stop trying to be filled with other things that will eventually leave you empty.
2. That Christ the King would freely offer the bread of life to our city and world through Word and deed ministries.