Can you imagine how completely awe inspiring it would have been to see Jesus do a miracle? I mean, come on, Jesus took five loaves of barley bread and two small fish and fed around five thousand people! (John 6.1-14) It’s no wonder the men who witnessed this said, “This is truly the prophet who is come into the world.”
The sad part about this wonderful display of divine power by Christ is that some people could not care less that Jesus was the Son of God. They were just interested in what Jesus could do for them. Look at what He tells them when He says, “you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” (Jn 6.26) What an ungrateful thing it is to look at God and basically say, ‘what have you done for me lately?’; especially when He had so richly blessed them by feeding so many just the day before.
In the face of such selfishness, how would you feel? How would you react? I know many people would be hurt and lash out at such an uncaring attitude. Jesus however uses this as a teaching moment and says, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” (John 6.27) You would think that they would pump their fist in the air, yell YES, and do a little happy dance. I mean, who would not want that kind of food?!!!
Unfortunately, these guys were not only selfish, they were dense and selfish. Can you believe their response to what Jesus said was to ask how they could get the power to work the miracles of God? They said, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” I don’t know about you but I think I might have lost my cool at that point, but not Jesus. He goes on to essentially say, ‘OK, you want to do the works of God, here is what you do.’ “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6.29) That’s awesome! Even I can do that work of God, so can you, but the men Jesus was speaking to still did not get it. They just could not see past their own self-importance, selfishness and pride.
Now they began asking for a sign or a miracle to prove Himself. WHAT? He just fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, what more could you want? They even said to Jesus, “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written; ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
They were so focused on trying to figure out how to get the same power Jesus had, they missed the truth that the bread that feeds the soul, the bread of life…Jesus, was standing right before them! He said plainly, “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)
Friends, while the food that fills our stomach is important, it is nothing compared to the food that can fill our soul! Jesus is the very bread of life that can strengthen your soul and feed you for eternity. Please, do not let selfishness, pride, or the problems and cares of this earthly life keep you away from that which can feed your soul forever…Jesus and His word. Think about it.
All of us have favorite things. Favorite foods, favorite cars and favorite books, are some possessions we might hold in special regard. We even have favorite people in our lives. They could be a teacher, a kind aunt or uncle, or even a trusty local car mechanic. The question is, when it comes to people, is there anything wrong with showing favoritism? After all, we hear all the time on blogs, Facebook, and in classrooms that favoritism is wrong.
For the most part, worry is wrong. Jesus teaches this during His sermon on the mount. Listen to His words when He says, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Mt 6.25ff)
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