The Bible is full of metaphors, and perhaps the greatest one of them all is this: “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” John 6:35
This is definitely one of my favorite verses. Jesus is obviously not talking about being bread in the physical sense, but rather in the spiritual sense. He is saying that He is our spiritual nourishment. He will satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. And He will provide us with this nourishment daily. All we have to do is put our faith in Him.
In Psalm 63:1, David realizes that the dry desert he was living in was much like his dry soul. He was thirsty for water, but also thirsty for God. He said: “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”
And then David repeats himself again in Psalm 143:6 with this simile: “I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.”
And here is another simile pertaining to spiritual hunger, that also happens to be another one of my favorites: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” Psalms 42:1-2
I just love the comparison here so much.
Matthew 5:6 says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” This is yet another one of my favorite verses. Clearly I have a lot of them.
I have always been a believer, but for a very long time I was missing out on actually having a relationship with Jesus. Nobody told me, and I didn’t quite understand. I always knew who Jesus was. I always knew that He was our Lord and our Savior. But that’s basically where my relationship with Him stood still for a very long time. I wasn’t understanding the difference between knowing who Jesus is versus actually KNOWING Jesus.
I spent years and years of my life yearning for something that I just couldn’t satisfy no matter what I did. I went through several life changes, but I still just never felt content. And it honestly wasn’t until I completely surrendered myself to Jesus Christ that the void was finally filled. Suddenly it all made sense. My entire life made sense. I had purpose. I had Jesus. I was no longer hungry and thirsty for something that I didn’t know how to fulfill. It would have been nice to come to that realization sooner in my life, but I absolutely knew from that moment on that I was never letting Him go now that I had finally really found Him. And I now had a new goal. To finish this race called life in accordance to His will.
Acts 20:24 sums that goal up perfectly: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
If you feel like you’re longing for something but you just can’t pinpoint what it is, I bet you it’s Jesus. Invite Him to fill that void for you. His promises are so real. Satisfy your spiritual hunger by feasting your soul on His goodness.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Psalms 34:8
God bless you all.
My Light for My Lord 