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By Mike Caton

John 6:35, Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

These folks want the bread that will give them true life. And Jesus tells them he is that bread. He is all that is needed, he alone can satisfy their desires. And he offers himself to whoever will come, they will never be hungry or thirsty again. What a tremendous offer, what a gracious promise!

But think clearly about what Jesus is telling us. There are again, many people who try to fill themselves with the wrong things. And we need to be careful here. Jesus did not say the church was the bread of life, he did not say reading our Bible was the bread of life, not prayer, not good deeds, not tithing, not music, not clothes, not a haircut, not a lot of things that many people consider the mark of a good Christian. Jesus said HE was the bread of life, and that when we come to HIM, we will be eternally satisfied. Is there anything wrong with those things listed? No, but those are not goal. And those things will not necessarily move us any closer to the goal, to Jesus. Our focus, our desire needs to simply be to get closer to and become more like Jesus.

Here is the part that throws many people. Once we have that desire to get more Jesus, we will want to read our Bible (to find out more about Jesus), we will want to pray (to communicate with Jesus), we will want to attend church (to fellowship with Jesus’ people), we will want to do many of those other things (to honor and glorify Jesus). Our focus is simply on Jesus, and that is where it should be. And we will do whatever it takes to get closer. You see we don’t HAVE TO do those things, we GET TO do those things. Do you see the difference?

Father, give me Jesus. In His name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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