Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 NIV
God uses common life experiences as analogies to help us understand spiritual truth. We can all relate to being hungry, to that uncomfortable feeling, the pit in our stomach when we’ve gone too long without food. It slowly takes over, we can’t think straight, we can’t focus on anything else. Finding something to eat becomes our first priority. If we wait too long we start to feel weak, and we usually develop a headache. Our mood shifts, we become irritable and grumpy. If we smell food cooking in that moment it takes us to a whole new level of desire as our hunger intensifies. Food never tastes better than at that moment when the craving is satisfied and we enjoy the meal that was cooking. I’ve been blessed. The hunger I’m describing is superficial, a mere inconvenience as I’ve never been in a position of real hunger.
I can only imagine the pain when food is scarce, and days pass from meal to meal. The reality is that we need food. It’s not a luxury, it’s necessary for survival. Our physical bodies can’t survive without it. Jesus understood this reality when he spoke the statement in John 6:35. We need God to survive. God didn’t just create the world, He keeps it all going. He didn’t just design your body, He’s the reason it continues to work. In His mercy, He keeps it all going, regardless of our recognition of His involvement. Yes, the devout Christian and the atheist alike, who denies God’s existence, are both dependent upon God for their next breath. But the satisfaction Jesus refers to in John 6, is declaring God’s ability to meet a desire and need even deeper than our physical need for food. Isaiah addresses the same idea in his writings.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV
With money we can buy bread and satisfy physical hunger, but there is a deeper hunger, a desire for spiritual satisfaction that only God can meet. This hunger craves things such as peace of mind, contentment of soul, and a spirit of joy that only comes from a relationship with God. Every human has a deep longing that only God can satisfy. We are cognizant of spiritual “hunger,” in the sense that we realize something is missing from our lives, we know we are not satisfied, but we don’t always know why. So what do we do? We throw all our energy into trying to find satisfaction. The sad reality is, some come to the end of their lives, never tasting the “bread of life.”
What are some of the common things we believe will satisfy?
- Money – We think if we can just earn enough money to buy the right house, the right car, to do the things we enjoy, we will be satisfied. Unfortunately, we can spend our whole lives working hard but never earn enough money to realize that none of those things will satisfy our hunger.
- Relationships – We think that the right soul mate or spouse will satisfy us, but even those with healthy thriving relationships still lack the contentment that only God can bring.
- Service/Good Deeds – We often get the idea that if we can just live good lives, do good for others, show kindness, alleviate the suffering of others, and make a difference in the world, it will circle back to us and we will be satisfied.
These are some of the ways we try to satisfy our spiritual hunger, but any results these methods bring are temporary at best. God didn’t just create our physical bodies, He also created our soul, our heart, our mind, and our emotions. He doesn’t just know what we need, He is what we need. He is the “bread of life” and only He can relieve the hunger that He created in us for relationship with Him.
So what about you? Are you completely satisfied? Are you enjoying a relationship with God that satisfies every desire in your heart? Or is there a hunger and thirst in you for something more? Here’s the good news, just like Isaiah records God’s invitation to come to Him if you are thirsty, Jesus makes this statement in John 6:36, “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” God created you with a void that only He can fill because He desires to be in relationship with you. He loves you and will not turn you away.