Can I Buy You Lunch? | John 6:35-36

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. — John 6:35-36 I mentioned this in a previous devotional, but there are eight times in John that Jesus declares, "I am." Most of them include a noun called a predicate nominative. The predicate nominative, in this case, is "bread."  Jesus draws a spiritual comparison to a natural law to help people who are confused about him understand who he is. And he is using physical depravity to describe our spiritual depravity in hopes that people will understand what he is talking about. The comparison is this: mankind hungers when deprived of food and water because this is required for physical life. If we don't eat and drink, we die. This is a natural law. In the same way, mankind has a spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst because we are deprived of spiritual sustenance. And the sustenance required is Jesus, "the bread of life." He is what sustains spiritual life. He is the satisfaction for our souls. So let me illustrate it this way. If you traveled to a third-world country to a small village in the middle of nowhere that lacked access to food, what would be the most loving response to the people in this small village? Would it be to spend the rest of your life providing them with access to food? Or would it be to present them with "the bread of life" — spiritual food? Well, the answer, according to Jesus, might be both. But providing one without pointing to the need for the other fails to communicate the more critical need. Spiritual food is far more important than physical food. Because as Jesus points out later (John 6:50), everyone who ate the manna in the desert died. But those who find satisfaction in him, "the bread of life," live forever. So I am going to get practical today. Buy someone lunch, but don't just give them natural food. Present them with the bread of life. Otherwise, they will leave the table still hungry. ASK THIS: Who are you going to buy lunch today? DO THIS: At lunch, say something about Jesus, who provides true satisfaction. PRAY THIS: God, give me the courage to buy someone lunch and talk about Jesus. PLAY THIS: Talking To Jesus. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller