Forty Days of Promises: Fill and Satisfy

God promises to fill and satisfy us

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ”Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook of Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17: 2-4

ALL PROMISES ARE FULFILLED IN CHRIST.

Please read John 6: 22-40.

On Friday we talked about the miracle of Jesus feeding 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. After this scene, Jesus and His disciples crossed to the other side of Galilee with the crowd following. He takes this moment to teach them a lesson. He accuses the crowd of ignoring His miraculous signs and only following Him for the “free meal” . They were so enthralled with the food, they were missing out that the Messiah had come. The Jews asked for a sign that He was sent from God (as if the miraculous feeding and walking across the water weren't enough). Jesus responds to the people by telling them the words from our passage in John today you have undoubtedly heard many times, “ I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus equates Himself to bread and is saying He is essential for life. He is referring not to the physical but the spiritual realm. He is contrasting what He did the day before with the fish and loaves. That bread was the kind that perishes and after a while leaves us physically hungering once more. He is the bread that satisfies and sustains and brings us eternal life!

Our climate today is no different than the time when Jesus walked on earth. We are looking everywhere for anything and everything that will satisfy and fix whatever the problem is. Just like the Jews in this story, we might be sidetracked and miss the Messiah. It’s so very easy to get caught up in the moment unable to see beyond the immediate needs we have. When we take a deeper look we find we have a desire we cannot fulfill, no matter what we do. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus says in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” When Jesus says those who will come to Him will never hunger or thirst, He is saying He will satisfy our hunger and thirst to be made righteous in the sight of the Lord.

He, and He alone is the One who can fulfill that desire deep in our hearts. He is our Bread.

For further reading: Psalm 90:14; Psalm 73:25-26; Jeremiah 31:25; Lamentations 3: 25-26.

Heavenly Father, we come to You today with a hunger and thirst we sometimes don't understand. Help us to see beyond the present and immediate needs we have and trust that You are the God of Commitment we seek. Remind us our longing was put inside us by You which can be fulfilled by ONLY You. Keep our eyes on You, Jesus when we want to look everywhere else to be filled. There is no person, place, or thing outside of our relationship with You that can satisfy the longings in our hearts. Let this message extend from us to others in this world. Amen