Food for the Soul

Then Jesus declared, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never grow hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

Food and water are essential to our survival in this world. Scientists estimate that a healthy person can endure physically for up to eight weeks without food and three to five days without water. These are general time frames that can vary due to the individual's overall health condition. A person exposed to extreme heat or cold will typically die sooner without food or water. Most of us make it a priority to eat and drink fluids on a regular basis, but if we didn't we would eventually starve to death.

Jesus said He was the Bread of Life. He nourishes our soul, and just like we need food and water to maintain strong physical health, we also need to be in fellowship with Christ to experience vibrant spiritual health. Without daily contact with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, our spirits languish. It's no wonder that many Christians lack the power to do God's will in their day-to-day lives.

One of my first challenges after becoming a Christian was to develop a daily quiet time with the Lord. I understood that this was important for me, but it took some time to establish this good habit in my life. At first, I tried to secure an hour with the Lord every day. When I often failed to meet the Lord in this way, I would feel guilty. Later I learned that the exact amount of time was not as important as quality of time I gave. Three hours spent with God halfheartedly is not worth much to us or to the Lord, but twenty minutes given to the Lord in full surrender is precious to Him and beneficial to us. I learned through a pastor, who is a friend of mine, that our quiet time should consist of worship and praise, prayer, and time reading and meditating on the Scriptures.

As I did these things, I began to experience greater victory in my personal walk with the Lord. More importantly, I began to sense that my relationship with the Lord deepened. My heart feasted on God's word and the Holy Spirit, like water, quenched my spiritual thirst. Also, the carnal things that I had grown attached to began to lose their allure as well as their hold on me.

When we establish – with Christ's help - a daily quiet time, we allow the Holy Spirit to build us up spiritually. As we do this, the Lord is able to use us to bring His message and love to others. It takes time for all of us to grow spiritually, but without a steady diet of God's word and God's presence we will always feel inadequate and unfulfilled. We will lack God's power to serve and grow in our Christian lives.

Let's allow the Lord to help us establish a daily habit of going to Him in worship, prayer, and Bible study. There is no reason we should have to starve spiritually. The Bread of Life has prepared a banquet for you and me. I believe He would say to us, “Come and dine!”

Dear Father God,

Help me to come to you every day to sit at your feet. Speak to me through Your word and through Your Holy Spirit. Let the Bible come alive to me as I spend time reading it each day. Use me to pray for others. Lord help me to establish the godly habit of spending time with You each and every day. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.