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

 

Many people would think I was daft if I said that I like the word “hungry” and that it has positive connotations for me. But picture “hungry” when you’ve been waiting for a good meal for a long while and know you’ll soon be fed. “Hungry” is a good way to be if you’re going to fully enjoy a meal.

On the other hand, many live with hunger for food that’s not available to them. Many starve. That’s not a good hungry.

We need to realize there is a spiritual dimension which differs from the physical in that you can’t touch it with your hands or see it with your eyes. And yet it’s real. Trouble is, many don’t understand that they have a spiritual self, a part of themselves they haven’t discovered yet.

“Hunger” can have such a spiritual dimension. In the same way our stomach hungers for food, our heart and soul hunger for sustenance of a different kind. We feel a spiritual hunger when we’re lonely, anxious or hurting. We feel it whenever we long for something greater than ourselves to fill needs for which there seem to be no other answers.

Personally, at the age of forty-two, I realized my need for something greater than myself when I could no longer cope with the psychosis that was often part of my life. I tried many coping skills, took the medication I was given, but eventually got to the point where I could no longer carry on without God. When I found him and believed, my life improved greatly.

The bread we buy at the bakery will fill us for awhile, until we get hungry again. What we hunger for is something much deeper than ordinary bread. In the scripture above, Jesus speaks about himself being the bread of life. He is the spiritual bread that will nourish us and strengthen us.

Those who believe in Jesus and are strong in their faith, are helped to survive the trials of life that befall them. They might suffer like everyone else, but they have someone to trust. They trust that God will be with them and uphold them. This trust is not dissimilar to how a child might trust a father who loves them. But God, our heavenly Father is ever so much more trustworthy than any earthly human being could be. There’s no comparison. Trouble is, many don’t believe, not having been in touch with that part of themselves.

We all have a spiritual hunger, though we may not know it.

Exploring the truths in the Bible can start you on the road to feeding that hunger. Every time we find things in the Bible that really speak to us, we are fed. When we feed like this on this Word—which is Jesus, the bread of life—our spiritual hunger is satisfied. We will grow spiritually.

marja