“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.’”
John 6:26
NLT
The first time I ever cooked for my husband, before we were ever married, I made him chocolate gravy. I haven’t made that dish one single time since. What if one day my husband came to me, and angrily accused me of not loving him because I never made him chocolate gravy anymore? I would be shocked and offended. When I made him chocolate gravy, it was a sign of my love for him, but I never promised that I would make chocolate gravy everyday. What if he then told me that the only reason he married me was because he wanted that chocolate gravy everyday, and to be deprived of it made me a bad wife? Now this would be truly ridiculous, but this is exactly what we communicate to God all the time!
In John 6 we see Jesus performing great miracles, one being that he fed 5000 men (this number not including the women and children present) with only five loaves of bread and two fish! After Jesus performed this miracle, he left that crowd of people to do ministry elsewhere, but when these people find him gone, they follow him. Great right? Well, not so much. When these people find Jesus they ask him for more bread! Even when Jesus invites them to be fully satisfied through belief in himself, they still just ask for more bread! Jesus calls them out and tells them in verse 26,
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.’”
Jesus tells the people that the miracles he performed were supposed to help them see who He is, as their Savior, bringing them into a right relationship with God. Instead of wanting this right relationship, they just wanted more food. In some sense, who could blame them? They were hungry! But when we look to God only to meet our physical needs, we often miss out on what it means to truly follow Jesus.
So why are you following Jesus? Do you understand who He really is, or are you just looking to get what you want from him?
My Prayer for You Father, thank you for sending Jesus, your Son, to save us from our sins, and bring us back into a right relationship with you. Help us to see Him for who He really is. Reveal your truth to us, and help us to find our full satisfaction in being with Jesus, not in getting what we want from Jesus. Amen.
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