January 9th Devotion

The Bread of Life
Greg Laurie

“But 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. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” (John 6:27 NLT)

The people who followed Jesus across the Sea of Galilee woke up the next morning to find that He and His disciples were gone. So they rowed back across the water to Capernaum, hoping to see more miracles. They wanted Jesus to keep feeding them miraculous food. They wanted Him to be their miracle-working, Roman Empire-fighting king. They wanted Him to fulfill their expectations.

They found Him in the synagogue. Religious leaders from Jerusalem were also there to interview Him. Jesus took the opportunity to set them all straight. He made them see that they were seeking temporary fixes, miracles that momentarily satisfied their hunger and stirred their imagination. They were focused on the small picture of the miracles themselves. They missed the big picture of what the miracle worker could do for them eternally.

The physical food Jesus gave them lasted a few hours. The spiritual food He offered would last a lifetime—and then forever. He said, “God the Father has given me the seal of his approval” (verse 27 NLT). They could have confidence in Jesus because God Himself guaranteed the truth of His words.

The people realized that Jesus wasn’t going to bend to their wishes. So they tried a different approach. “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” they asked in verse 28. Their goal was still the same: to get Jesus to be who they wanted Him to be. What they wanted to know is how they could please God with their works to make that happen.

“Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent’” (verse 29 NLT). Some translations use the word trust instead of believe. Trusting may seem easier than performing works, but it’s not. Trusting in Jesus means giving up our own agenda and embracing God’s plan. It means letting go of what we want and sincerely asking for what God wants.

The religious leaders from Jerusalem, who had heard about the miraculous feeding of more than 5,000 people, wanted to see Jesus’ power for themselves. And the people who had eaten the loaves and fish wanted to eat again. So they tried to manipulate Jesus using the Old Testament story of God providing manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. They wanted Jesus to provide them daily bread to eat.

In verse 35, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” (NLT) the One who had come down from Heaven to give spiritual nourishment—the Word of God and eternal life, things that were much more important than food.

And that’s when the crowd started to murmur. Come down from Heaven? He was the son of Joseph and Mary, local people! The idea of a miracle-working king appealed to them. The idea of trusting in someone for eternal life didn’t. So many followers deserted Jesus.
When Jesus asked His 12 disciples if they wanted to desert too, Peter answered for the group. “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God” (verses 68–69 NLT).

Wise people don’t try to alter the truth to fit their thinking; they alter their thinking to fit the truth.