Day 2: Food that Spoils
"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval” (John 6:27).
Sustaining God and heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus taught us, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6). You alone are the Bread of Life, Jesus, and You promised "Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35).
But in the deceitfulness of our human cravings, we abandon our genuine need, and train our appetites towards inadequate and inferior offerings that fail to nourish, and sustain and satisfy us. Even in the presence of the true Bread from heaven, the crowd was only intent on seeking food that spoils (John 6:27, 32).
Through every age they have continued to seek. The spiritual state of general humanity could easily fit Job's description of wandering outcasts: Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night (Job 30:3).
And seventeenth century mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal so aptly describes the futile attempts by humans to fill the vacuum left by the absence of God— the craving and the helplessness evident in the human spirit:
"This [emptiness] he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God Himself” - Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII (425).
Lord, help us to recognize the true nature of the hunger within us, and pray like the psalmist, You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).
Help us not to be content with the perilous potluck offerings of this world. Replace our crude and limited cravings with healthy appetites for food that endures to eternal life (John 6:27).
Open our eyes to see You in the sanctuary and behold Your power and Your glory. Help us learn to be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; [and] with singing lips... praise You (Psalm 63:2, 5).
