Feasting on the Bread of Life
John 6:27-35
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
I can relate to any writing about food. Bread or otherwise! I have had a life-long love affair with food, so I have almost 50 years of experience on this subject! You’re thinking well, everyone needs to eat, so of course it’s not unreasonable to like food. But I have more than a passing interest. I have had a real love affair with food -- to the point that food has at times become the most important thing in my life. In all honesty, it became my comfort, and shared in all my celebrations. It became my support system and the focal point of some of my daily plans -- do I have enough “snacks?”
It is only because of my intentional efforts to extricate myself from this adulterous relationship with food that I am sharing something so personal. It has been adulterous because food has often taken the place of God in my life for many, many years. Rather than turn to God when I was stressed, I reached for something salty and crunchy. When I was depressed or down, ice cream. When I was in a celebratory mode - sugar -- in any form. And chocolate became a staple -- a life-line.
Several weeks ago I began a class on the Celebration of Discipline (book by Richard Foster). The chapter on fasting was not sounding very appealing to me. I could not conceive of such a thing! But through God’s grace, I did fast the day of class. And it was one of the most powerful experiences I can recall! I was very intentional, and planned out the day, with the help of the book’s author. I did not focus on how deprived I was, but on God’s ability to sustain me throughout the day. I was determined to make it a day focused on God. And I felt so joyful! Of course I didn’t keel over in starvation! Of course I was hungry. Really hungry! And my stomach protested mightily! I admidetly have not been as joyful on subsequent fasting days, but am committed to this discipline, until I learn all God has to reveal to me.!
Something happened that day to my heart. I moved from the “Israelites surviving on manna” mindset to “feasting on the bread of life.” I have been fasting 1 day a week ever since. I do that because on the days in between, I still have a tendency to fall back into that “I need some chocolate” mode, or “I really want french fries to supplement the salad I brought from home” mindset. I don’t do either as often now, because I am so much more aware of that tendency. I try not to be hard on myself when I succumb to food I don’t really need, because I know I am overcoming a lifetime of loving an idol. And it will not happen over night! Or over a week or month. I hope it will become an ingrained habit to go to scripture first!
My prayer today is that you examine the idols in your life, asking God to help you cast them aside. And that you rejoice in feasting on the bread of life, on whom the Father has set his seal.
Mary
