Who Are You Following?

When my brother, Darren, was a teenager, he went on a mission trip to Haiti with my Mom and Dad and several other people from our church.  At the airport at Port Au Prince, they were picking up their luggage and Darren somehow followed the wrong crowd of people and ended up outside of the airport.  Realizing his mistake, he tried to re-enter only to be surrounded by armed soldiers.  My Dad tried desperately to reach him, but the soldiers pushed him back.  The interpreter interceded and was able to negotiate a safe return of my brother back with my parents.  My brother almost ended up in a mess!

After miraculously healing over 5,000 people, Jesus was in Capernaum teaching that He was the Bread of Life.  As the Bread of Life, He is the source of life.  Just as bread provides nutrients for our physical bodies, Jesus nourishes us spiritually.
Jesus was speaking metaphorically when He stated that just as food had to be eaten for life, so must He be eaten.  He was talking about spiritual hunger not physical hunger.  But it was too much for most of the people who followed Him and they simply walked away.

In our lives, we can become distracted by the world’s offerings.  Trying to get t
hat promotion at work; working our fingers to the bone so that we can have a great retirement; or pursuing the latest new car or new gadget.  When this happens, we can find ourselves walking away from Jesus.
 
John 6:27 Jesus said, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
 
Jesus came to give us abundant and eternal life.  It doesn’t come in the form of wealth or possessions but in contentment, peace, forgiveness, mercy and love.  This is all free by simply believing in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and sticking as close as we can to the source of life.
 
When we spend time in prayer, reading and reflecting on His Word, and telling others about Him, we draw closer and closer to Him.  When we pursue “the food that perishes”, we can become like a distracted teenager following the wrong crowd wondering how we ended up in such a mess.

These are your Words for Wednesday.
 
Please remember our Virtual Egg Hunt outreach to the Ballentine neighborhood on Sunday, April 13 at 3:30 at the Ballentine Swimming pool parking lot. Have a great rest of your week!

In Christ,

Kevin