Life is the Trip

John 3:5-8; John 6:53-59

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203%3A5-8%2CJohn%206%3A53-59&version=NIV;NLT

 

What’s the most hungry that you’ve ever been? For me, it was the Boy Scouts Polar Bear overnight that I attended as a teen. I had to do all of my own cooking, and basically I starved. When I got home Saturday night, my Mom fixed seven slices of her mouthwatering French toast which I devoured in front of the TV until I fell asleep.

 

 

When teaching, Jesus would often use earthly objects and events that people could easily visualize in order to drive home a spiritual lesson. Because of this, he spoke to Nicodemus about being “born again”.

 

In Capernaum, he taught in the synagogue about the “Bread of Life”. Bread from God was a familiar image to the Jews. After all, God had provided manna for the nation of Israel as they roamed the wilderness for forty years.

 

The crowd that Jesus was teaching had been a part of the five thousand he had miraculously fed. They followed him, not because they knew who he was, but because they were hungry. Jesus on the other hand, was trying to steer their attention from the temporal to the eternal.

 

²⁷ Jesus told them, “Don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you…                       John 6 NLT

 

^33 “The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…  ³⁵ I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6 NLT

 

When I got home from the Polar Bear overnight, all I could think about was food and sleep. HALT is an acronym that stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. These are emotions that can affect you any day of the week. You don’t have to go on a winter camping trip to experience them. Life is the trip.

 

How do you deal with HALT distractions in your life? How does the Bread of Life regain your nourishment; refocus your sense of purpose; revitalize your spiritual strength? Answer these questions and you will experience the abundant life that Christ promises.