SPIRITUAL GOOD EATS

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.  

   Listen here >>>

Psalm 63:1-5

Do you know where your food comes from? 

Is it Organic?

Is it Pesticide-free?

Is it Non-GMO

Is it Whole Grain?

Is it Free-Range?

Is it Farm-Raised?

Is it Spring-Fed?

We read the labels on what we buy, but sometimes pay no attention to what our eyes, ears and heart ingest.

So if we’re feeling Anemic, maybe we should check the source and the contents of our “spiritual eats.”

The prophet Isaiah asks:

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.*

David answers, from the Desert of Judah:

God, you are my God …

I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.**

Like a starving man, he seeks after the One True God, the God of power and glory, whose love is better than life.

And the result:

He is full.  He is completely satisfied.  As if he has eaten the richest, most nutritious food the world has to offer.

Good spiritual eats.

*Isaiah 55:2

**Psalm 63:1-5

GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FROM HEAVEN - (2)

John 6: 1-69 – Part 2

“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” John 6:41

 

Read the story here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%206:1-51a&version=NIV

Listen to story here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.6

I am bread.  Every age and culture understands that bread is physically life-giving. It has been called the “staff of life.”  So the comparison we talked about in Part 1 – I am the bread of life – was a universal metaphor:

But today’s metaphor comes from an ancient Jewish story that everyone in Jesus’ audience knew: God fed Moses and the Israelites in the desert a bread that fell from the sky and collected on the ground every morning.  Bread from heaven, literally.

Jesus and the crowd of people who had been supernaturally fed by him just the day before had a long discussion, and that story was background to the discussion.

So, the crowd had followed him because they got their bellies full.

But when Jesus had fed the 5,000, and given them an object lesson so they would experience his desire and ability to care for their needs, he wasn’t focused solely on the physical needs.  These people were.

After they tracked him down, he instructed – “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”

He had the big picture – eternity – and he kept trying to get them to look deeper, to look UP.

Instead, they asked him for his credentials!  The irony of their request, after he had just fed 5,000 of them with one small boy’s lunch, didn’t derail Jesus from the point he was making.  He tried another angle.  Hey, remember that bread, that “manna,” God gave the Israelites in the desert so they wouldn’t starve?  That’s me.  I am “the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (v33)

At first they seem to get it, because they say: “Give us this bread always!”  But really, they are still just focused on physical bread.  The minute that Jesus stops speaking in figures of speech and states directly: “For I have come down from heaven,” they turn on him. 

They are offended because he is equating himself with God.  They grumble: Who do you think you are!  We know your parents, Mary and Joseph! Ha! Like you really came down from heaven!

He knows that they are grumbling and many don’t believe him, but then he clearly states the spiritual lesson of the bread: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Wow.  At that point I’m wondering why they didn’t bow at his feet in gratitude and amazement.  Everyone wants to live forever. 

Instead, they desert him in droves.

In tomorrow’s blog, find out why.