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| One of our family gatherings...waiting to be fed... |
As I look back on my life I know I've said that zillions of times...especially as a growing child. And how often have we heard our own children say the same things? Probably more times than we could possibly count.
Now, let's tell the truth...how many of those zillions of times were we truly starving? How often were we (or our children) really so hungry that we could "eat a cow"? (A nice juicy steak might be nice...)
Yes, I am well aware that there is tremendous hunger in the world, and possibly closer than we think, and it is an immensely horrific problem for millions of people. As much as I would love to solve world hunger, that is not what I am really talking about tonight. That is an issue that is larger than my capacity to solve.
No, the kind of hunger that is really on my mind is soul hunger. If your soul could speak, how often do you think it would cry, "I'm starving!" ? Probably more often than we care to admit. Could it be possible that a person could attend church every week, listen to Christian music, attend all kinds of "Bible Studies" or other spiritual help groups, conferences, and concerts and still have a starving soul?
Yes...highly possible. How could that be? I mean, wouldn't that be the right kind of "diet" to have a well nourished soul? It should be. But I've seen people come and go from church to church, Bible study to Bible study, all manner of conferences and groups, etc., etc, etc., and still not grow and mature in matters of the soul. They never can get enough food to satisfy the hunger of the heart and soul. Why?
Perhaps because we get so caught up in the frenetic search for answers and just the right "food" that we overlook the most basic important nutrient of all...a total ingestion of the best food ever offered; The Bread of Life...Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to His disciples in John 6:35
"I Am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."
And in verse 48-51
"I Am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
This is the bread which comes down from heaven,
that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever;
and the bread that I shall give is My flesh,
which I shall give for the life of the world."
The rulers and disciples did not truly understand what Jesus was saying to them at the time...and for a complete discourse on this I commend the whole 6th chapter of John's Gospel to your reading.
But what we need today, what I need today, is a buffet table full of the Bread of Life...open for you and me to partake of freely...to breathe Him into our hearts and minds so fully that we no longer crave the running to and fro seeking every special program, every marvelous speaker, the over abundant diet of constant activity of worship, studies, preaching, teaching...having "itching ears", heaping "up for themselves teachers" and possibly even having turned "our ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (See 2 Timothy 4:1-5)
You may wonder how can someone get too much of Bible study and preaching and teaching, etc., and not be fed properly? It's simple...
We get so busy chasing after more knowledge and the better "worship experience" that we lose sight of the One Who stands there waiting for us to
"Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
Now, please don't think that I am against going to church, Bible Studies, conferences, etc., etc. But on the other hand, the warning is this...Don't become so addicted to eating more and more "food"...even when it is so-called food for the soul, that you overlook the most valuable nourishing meal of all: Jesus Christ, the living Lord, the Bread of Life who gave His life for your soul...Who stands at your heart's door knocking, waiting on you to let Him enter into the innermost part of your very being...
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| Warner Sallman's picture of Jesus Standing at the door knocking |
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3:20
Yes, this is the food that comes down from heaven...Jesus Christ...knocking at your door (and mine)...waiting for us to invite Him in...to dine with us...for eternity! How wonderful is that?
Lord Jesus, I'm starving...I'm hungry, hungry for more of YOU. Help me stop the frantic frenzy of chasing after the rich foods that will never satisfy...and fill me with YOU...and YOU alone. YOU ARE the Bread of Life who came down from heaven....seeking for me. Please come in and dine with me...forever. Amen.
For a continuation of this "series" of thought, go to my next post, "Be Still And Know"
