JOHN 4:31-34 FEED ON THE WORD

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

We tend to be driven by our physical appetites. Hunger, thirst, want and homelessness are strong motivators for hard work for most of us. For some, they are the stimuli that cause them to lie, cheat, steal and even kill. For others, the drive for comfort results in the ever increasing accumulation of possessions. Few, if any of us, are free from the influence of our appetites.

This scene is reminiscent of Jesus’ response to Satan in wilderness when he is tempted to turn stones into bread (Luke 4:4). Jesus retorts quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. There is a deeper hunger than that for food, and that hunger is for a greater knowledge of God. This so-called, “God-size” emptiness in our lives can only be filled by God’s self-revelation that is available to us through his Word. It is when we live in obedience to God’s Word, that is, his will, that we eat this “bread” and are truly fulfilled. The food of divine obedience is also the sustenance for eternal life. Be aware, there is no substitute for obedience on the menu for the kingdom banquet.

Lord God, I have an emptiness in my life and I confess that I have tried to fill it with anything I can grasp. I am tired of trying and failing to achieve fulfillment on my own. Challenge, inspire and empower me through your Holy Spirit to feed on your Word by both reading and doing what you have revealed as your will for me through its pages. Amen.