“Bread
of Life” by Melanie Rigney
Stephen said to the people, the elders,
and the scribes: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you
always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the
prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold
the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now
become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe
it.” When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at
him. (Acts 7:51-54)
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend
my spirit. (Psalm 31:6a)
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to
me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)
Piety
Jesus, I humbly request Your help in
building my faith and trust in You.
Study
He is the Bread of Life. He tells the crowd. Stick with Him,
and you will never lack food or water, not ever.
It’s a great promise, a promise even the most unscrupulous of
politicians and businesses likely would stop short of making. Because there’s always
a dependency as they say in the project management world, a manufacturing or
delivery or execution link that could break down. There’s still something
beyond their control.
There’s something beyond Jesus’s control too, which makes
this promise all the more audacious.
To be fed by the Bread of Life, we have to not only come to
Him. We have to stay with Him.
We have to stay with Him when we haven’t had the Eucharist
for weeks. We have to stay with Him when the kids, spouses, and others with
whom we live are working our last nerve. We have to stay with Him when Dad died
a good death at a ripe old age, and there’s no way to have a funeral.
We have to stay with Him.
Jesus fulfills his promise of nourishment if, and only if, we
do that. And perhaps what’s an even more audacious leap of faith, He believes
we can.
Action
Read the Bread of Life passage in
John 6 aloud, pondering each word. Be fed.
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/cover-bread-wine-breadbasket-1196154/
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