Jesus as the Bread of Life
Many come to Jesus with their own motives. Some come to him for mere “bread,” expecting an endless meeting of everyday desires. They come to have their old appetites satisfied, not to get new ones. They don’t actually believe that Jesus offers what is more satisfying. For them, bread, water, comfort, control, achievement, affirmation, and pleasure seem to satisfy. In the end, they turn away from Jesus, cynical and self-righteous, saying: “I tried, he failed.” Yet they never had an appetite for him at all but only absorption in themselves.
Others claim to be satisfied in Jesus, but for them, he is simply another escape from reality, for they are unwilling to face the pain of their true need and brokenness. Instead, they add him to their lives like a coat of varnish, concealing their true condition.
We cannot simply will ourselves to be satisfied in Jesus. Just as it is impossible to put sin to death except by the Spirit, so it is impossible to see Jesus as the bread of life except by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Excerpt taken from chapter 5 of Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti