Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” John 6:26-27
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
Dear Lord Jesus, I’m barely twenty-four hours into Lent and already I realize how much I take you for granted… how much I take your grace for granted… how much I take the gift of bread for granted. This may be the slowest fast I’ve ever tried.
Who’d of thought that one little piece of cornbread staring up at me from my takeout meat-and-three Styrofoam dinner box could’ve presented such a challenge to my no-bread-during-Lent-fast? It’s not as though I’m on a 40-day bread and water fast. I choose to deny myself one little thing, with a world of other culinary options completely open to me, and yet my mouth waters, my taste buds engage and in one nano-second-I-reason, “Well, it’s not wheat bread but CORN bread…” It actually sounds kind of silly to say it, but here goes… thank you, Jesus, for power over one piece of cornbread.
Jesus, I don’t wanna be someone who follows you simply because I “ate the loaves and had my fill” (Jn. 6:26). You’re not my ticket to a 24/7 snack bar. And I don’t wanna twist the gospel of grace into a license for saying, “I’m so over those spiritual disciplines which all those legalists and pietists perform.”
During this blessed season of Lent, intensify my hunger for you, Jesus. If my mouth was a heart, may it water with insatiable desire… may it’s taste buds be irrepressibly activated… and may it cry with intense longing and grateful anticipation, “Bread of heaven… Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more!” For only you, Jesus, are the Bread of Life. You are the antitype of manna in the wilderness, and you are the giver of all those other wonderful breads I so very much enjoy.
Help me and my friends as we seek you in fresh ways over these next three-and-a-half weeks. Jesus, may the gospel come alive in profound and transforming ways. So very Amen, I pray, in your satisfying and sufficient name.