I was sitting in a cafe today reading through parts of the Bible and trying to get a sense of Jesus as the Bread of Life. It’s one of His names. It’s who He is. The Bread of Life. That He satiates, satisfies. That if there is a hunger on the inside of us – for relationship, for fulfilment, for intimacy, for hope, for passion, for meaning, for acceptance, for significance, whatever it is – it is Him that ultimately fills this void in us.

I am just starting down this road of truly understanding Jesus in this way. I no longer want to know this about Him in an unlived kind of way – just because I see the words written in the Bible, or hear a message about it - I actually want to experience Jesus in this way in every part of my heart. I want the reality of Him as my satisfaction.

What I am finding is that if there are areas of our lives where there is unmet need, or there is a kind of hunger, and Jesus is not filling that, then we are wide open for temptation. There is this really vivid sequence of what happens in our hearts and lives when unmet desire tempts us and we are drawn away. Every time I think about it, I find it so hard-hitting and sobering:

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren” James 1:14-16 .

That last part, about bringing forth death in our lives. Wow that is such a horrible thought – actually birthing death, destruction, demise in our lives. It is so very true too, when we try to satisfy desire apart from Him and His ways. I love the way God lays it all out there for us. I don’t always like the options, but I appreciate that God has told us how it’s all going to work out. It also reminds me of when God says in Deuteronomy “I have set before you life and death … choose life” Deuteronomy 30:19.

So, it is really evident to me that Jesus must satiate whatever hunger is inside us. It’s quite exciting to me that Jesus says He can fill our emptiness in this way. That any restlessness within can be satisfied by Him. I am not sure how He will do this in parts of my own life, but I believe He will.

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” John 6:35.

~ by Birgit on December 15, 2007.

Posted in Christianity, Devotional, Jesus