The Bread of Heaven
Beloved of God, those who put their faith and hope in Jesus Christ, come and sit at His feet, for the heart will grow cold unless we meditate upon His words. A well-tended garden produces abundant fruit, but one left untended will produce both thorns and thistles. So too, the heart that is drawn to the attractions of this world and left unattended to the truth of God’s living word, will pursue worldly lust.
The Psalmist, searching his heart, understood this when he penned, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
Therefore, if you are a new creation and have been immersed in the power of God’s love with efficacious grace, come and feed on the living truth. For his word to the Christian is true drink and true meat. Jesus said concerning this, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.”
Now, the point of this analogy is spiritual, rather than literal, in its significance: just as eating and drinking are necessary for physical life, so also is belief in His sacrificial death on the cross necessary for eternal life. The eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood metaphorically symbolize the need for accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and His atoning work on the cross.
We must never forget, the heart needs to be divinely nourished with truth in order to walk contently in the eternal love of God’s grace. We must daily seek the heavenly manna that only comes from the living Word of God, The Bible. This is truly the only way to overcome the temptations of the world. If we neglect this, which I fear often happens, as I have seen in my own life, our hearts will become like barren wildernesses, and we will only seek fleshly fulfillment driven by impulses of selfish behavior. This is why it is necessary to start each morning with holy prayer, cultivating intimacy with God through the revelation of His word. It’s imperative that we visit Calvary’s Cross and look at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, witnessing a bleeding savior who takes away our sins.
The cross is where God’s love and mercy will constantly renew our affections, it is here we will deny ourselves and take up our cross every day, striving to bring glory to His name. The cross is where we will clothe ourselves in the righteousness of His truth, subduing wanton pleasures to walk according to His word. So then, let us not grieve the Holy Spirit for one minute, but continually draw upon His strength to walk in holiness crying out, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Oh, may one day our hearts cry with sweet devotions like the Saints of old who went before us, “Thou hast loved me everlastingly, unchangeably, may I love thee as I am loved; Thou hast given thyself for me, may I give myself to thee; Thou hast died for me, may I live to thee, in every moment of my time, in every movement of my mind, in every pulse of my heart.
May I never dally with the world and its allurements, but walk by thy side, listen to thy voice, be clothed with thy graces, and adorned with thy righteousness.”
“For I have none to give; I love thee, Lord; but all the love is thine, For by thy love I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee.”
John 6:54 NASBS