Devotionals Detail

John 6:32-40

This week our kitchen is filled with bread – specifically sandwich bread. Our church is making hundreds of sandwiches for kids in the Salvation Army summer lunch program providing for our surrounding community. Many of you are showing up daily to ensure children are cared for in this way, so they can return to school next week, ready to learn, with full bellies. Thank you.

Jesus words in our Scripture today “I am the bread of life,’ has often been spiritualized to the point where the metaphor can lose practicality. The concept “bread of life” is often referred to as eternal life, or God’s loving presence filling all of our needs. “Jesus is the answer;” right? “We don’t need anything but Jesus.” Or the infamous “God will provide.” These sayings can leave us wondering if we need feeding, is it because our faith is lacking?

Historically, Jesus’ I AM statement connects to God as Provider: the Lord who rained down manna upon the Israelites in the wilderness for 4 decades. The provision of food was the assurance of holy presence in their time of need. Earlier in John, chapter 6, Jesus feeds 5,000 people, because they are hungry.

In this we realize that an essential part of God and Jesus’ nature is feeding in response to need. Providing the practical bread that fills people’s bellies who are hungry is holy presence. We, Flower Mound United Methodist Church, are another extension of the body of Christ as we too are committed to this work.

May our lives always be understood by who WE ARE in the presence of the great I AM.