This morning I was reading a few blogposts and came across this gem: Just Jesus Himself, by John Lynch. What captured my attention was John’s paragraphs about Jesus’ teaching on bread:
I’m encouraged by these words to look first and foremost to the breaking forth of Christ’s person in my life before I look to the breaking forth of His kingdom in my world. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul†(Mark 8:36)? It reminds me to fix my eyes not on the world nor even on the faith but rather on the “author and perfecter of faith†– that is, simply Jesus , Himself (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus demonstrated this in the coolest of ways through the image of bread. (I’m really into eating so I like food analogies.) In John 6, He multiplies fish and bread to feed thousands, simultaneously explaining the meaning of the manna described in Exodus 16 where God provided bread from heaven for Israel, saying, “gather one day’s portion every day.†Any who gathered more discovered that it would not keep overnight. Manna, they learned, is only good when it’s fresh from heaven.
We let any- and everything distract us from our Lord and Savior, Jesus, even very good things. Just like the Israelites had to gather manna each day, we need to take time every day focusing on Jesus, abiding in Him. I praise God that he is faithful and gracious and desires that we follow Him more than we desire to do so.