Real Hunger

For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 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 6:33-35

When the Lord provided manna for the children of Israel, His intention was to teach them about daily dependence on Him. This daily reliance on Yahweh to provide bread from heaven, reminded them and us that there is something even better we can rely on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week….Jesus.

Hunger means that we are in need. It brings a consciousness of our condition and will not go away until it is satisfied by food.  If we do not eat, it can get painful and we can even hear a growl in our stomach. This is by God’s design just as it’s by His design that the Holy Spirit will convict our soul when we are spiritually hungry. We need to pay attention to the emptiness and experience the filling that only He can give.

In today’s passage the people that Jesus was speaking to had asked Him for a sign that He was the One who God had sent. They reminded Him that their ancestors ate manna that was from Heaven and He corrected them saying, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

They responded saying, “always give us this bread,” but later when Jesus explained that He is the Bread, broken for them, they rejected Him. They only wanted their immediate physical needs met, not their spiritual needs.

Often we do the same. We are hungry for help, relief and answers and can get caught up in the pain and suffering that we are experiencing, easily missing the promptings from the Holy Spirit that are directing us to where the deeper hunger really is….our souls, and where the true bread is….Jesus. Our souls are hungry and thirsty for more than this world can give and when we choose to partake of the Bread of Life, we will be filled.

He is the only One that can meet every need we have both physically and spiritually. He is the only One who patiently waits for us to come to Him in faith, believing who His is and what He has done. He is the only One who lovingly gave Himself to insure that we will never hunger or thirst again. He told the people in the story to believe in the one God sent and He is telling us to do the same thing.

Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Do you want more of God? Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually]. (John 6:35)

Father, thank you for Your Holy Spirit that shows us our true hunger, soul hunger, which is a desperate need for more of You. Thank you for meeting both our physical and spiritual needs and I pray that we will daily see Your provision in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.