WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
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Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, as I come to draw near to you today, thank you that you welcome me with arms open, ready to bless and encourage me, ready to build my faith and my vision to follow you.
Read JOHN 6:41–59
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Footnotes
- John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Remember that when you ‘thrill to God’s Word’ and ‘chew on Scripture day and night,’ you are like ‘a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month.’1
Jesus proclaims that he is ‘the bread of life’ (v. 48) and places his offer on the table—a feast of ‘bread straight from heaven’ (v. 41). This offer is open to all—‘anyone may eat and not die’ (v. 50, emphasis added). However, as the saying goes, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!’ Jesus invites us to his table where he himself is the feast, but he will never force-feed us. We have to choose to eat, drink, and taste his goodness and grace. Food must be consumed before its benefits can be realized. Heaping our plates high accomplishes little unless we actually consume the food, digest it, and absorb it into our bodies to nourish and strengthen us. The saying ‘We are what we eat’ is true! What we eat does not merely generate fuel for our bodies, it is also integrated into every cell in the body—skin, hair, blood, muscles, and so on. What we eat affects not just our physical well-being but also our mental and emotional health.
In his discussion with the argumentative Jews, Jesus repeatedly emphasized the need to ‘eat’ (six times), ‘drink’ (three times), or ‘feed’ on him (twice), promising that ‘whoever’ feeds on him will enjoy a life-giving relationship with him forever (vv. 51–58). The expression ‘to be consumed by’ (or with) something (or someone) means to feel with such intensity that this affects all we do in every area of life. When we ‘consume’ Jesus, we allow ourselves to be consumed by him, assimilating his life into our own, absorbing and integrating his ways and values until they become an integral part of us, so that we can say, like Paul, ‘I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.’2
Apply
‘You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.’3
Closing prayer
Father, build in me a great hunger for your Word. Help me to feast on Jesus there, continuing to be transformed by his love, compassion, and mercy. More and more, may others see Christ in me.
1 Ps 1:2, 3, The Message 2 Gal 2:20 3 Matt 5:6, The Message
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