Howdy there! Merry Christmas to you beautiful people.
You ever eat bread and you're still hungry? You ever go to a class, achieve something in it and end up not satisfied? Ever hit a level of success and say I can do more, or that was not enough? Ever got an A on a test and say I'd like to get a C on the next test? Ever get a car and then see there's a new Tesla out and say you want that? Whether you ever bought the iPhone 10, decided it was not good enough so you bought the iPhone 11?
Ya, that's me everytime I eat a Sour Patch Kid or eat a steak or pass an exam or receive a pay check. It seems to be this spinning wheel of never enough - of not achieving enough, not receiving enough, not eating enough to fill your bones up with substance, etc. That's not to say it's lack of contentment but more so our human nature. I eat 5 Sour Patch Kids and end up eating the whole bag and STILL want more. Because even if I did eat the BREAD, chances are the nutrients, vitamins and proteins alone would not be enough for me to live the healthy lifestyle I want. I can have bread but I also need fruit and vitamin C, D, E, F, G (hijklmnop? Seems right), etc. But "(wo)man cannot live on bread and bread ALONE but on the Word of God." Matthew 4:4. This verse alludes to everything on the earth being NOT good enough to quench the lasting need behind the vacation that is really there despite success, food, etc. No earthly relationship, possession, food, success, wealth, etc. could truly satisfy the level that the human heart yearns for at the end of the day (sorry not sorry... not trying to get all 'deep' up in here but it happened - oh well).
So, I eat a certain type of food and the nutrients alone are not enough to sustain me. What happens to people when they don't eat food that provides substantive nourishment to their bodies? Malnourishment. They end up malnourished because of lack of something or because they ate something that was not truly good for their body to consistently build a diet upon. To many people that are materially rich, but spiritually bankrupt - this post is for you. To many people that are malnourished spiritually, but booming materially or relationally... Have you found what U2 quotes and sings about in their all time great classic song: "I Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking For."
So, if you have yet to reach the point of not ever having enough food, or a level of success, or enough gifts under the Christmas tree, or whatever it is that the world cannot satisfy or do it for you... my God can. May I introduce you to the Bread of Life? And a glass of Living Water on the side of that? He said it in His WORD that it ain’t good for (wo)man to live on bread alone... Revelation right here: a table with food on it is only GOOD if its shared with the people around it... so I need the world (bread) and I need relationship (with people + God)! But the presence of FOOD alone cannot satisfy me, and if that cannot do it for me... I need another TYPE of presence...
So, if the Creator tells me I can’t live solely on bread and says its not GOOD for man to be alone in the book of Genesis I can only default to the fact I was created for relationship with God, earth, and man. I don’t need more presents around the Christmas tree, I need more of God’s PRESENCE.
180 switch up here! More, more, more, more... our society seems to be rooted on that. Presents. *Presence. Presents. *Presence.
…3 The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.… - Matthew 4
Here, Jesus is in the middle of a 40 day fast in the middle of the wilderness, probably very hungry and thinkin' about Chik Fil A or some Chipotle burritos that would come into existence about 2000 years later, and He concludes that He cannot live on bread and bread alone.... But that there's something out there that He REALLY needs and KNOWS He needs every day. There's something greater out there that was sustaining Him because by worldly conventions we can only go without food for about 21 days and without water for under a week... so there had to be something as His sustainer. He knew it was never the bread sustaining Him on his 40 day fast but the Word of God. Because I can eat and still be hungry. I can eat a lot of food and still want more in 5-6 hours. I can achieve something and never hit fulfillment. I can get a raise at work and not be satisfied for the sake of this. The question is, when does that thought spiral stop?
So, if I'm solely pursuing treasures here on earth I'm opening up myself to something that is a spinning wheel that does NOT last... Because when everything on this earth that I can possibly own depreciates - my car, cash (inflation - people!! --> our money even loses value at 2% inflation year over year), house, trophies, etc. then what can I possibly pursue that is lasting... that is bread for the soul and not temporary food that fixes my temporary hunger pains?
Because if I pursue treasures here on this earth, that's all I wind up with... money for me, car for me, wealth built up for me, adventures for me, achievements in my name, success for me, pleasure for me...! See how one-sided this is! But that's what treasures here on this earth is - a place for you and I to achieve and glean things for ourselves... a place to store things temporarily that hold no real significance after we're gone. Don't misstate what I am trying to say here... because those aren't evil or malicious in any way. However, when they sit on our throne and become all we're pursuing then it becomes a problem that absolutely contributes to our malnourishment.
But that's not what the Kingdom of God is about... You see the Kingdom of God is 100% more about treasures in Heaven than here on earth. The Kingdom of God is more about what God wants to do for people through what He did through you! The Kingdom of God is more about the collective presence of others than the singular sole of self. The Kingdom of God flips worldly values upside down and chews it inside out. I'll never forget this when someone near to my family sadly said this over reflection upon his life: "We sure did store up a lot of treasures here on this earth." I legitimately teared up in sadness when he mentioned this and was overwhelmed with emotion.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.... - Matthew 6:19
I'm sitting here writing this as my Honda Civic is in the shop getting repaired because it's so depreciated and old.
I can tell you this much... that ain't gonna be what I say when the Big Fella up there decides its about time to take me Home. I'll say we mined and stored MAD AMOUNTS of treasure in Heaven because my future family and I faithfully served God and kept sewing and planting spiritual seeds and living out our faith for the pleases of God and not man. We'll see we have ample amounts of treasure in Heaven because the amount of people that found their faith in Jesus Christ through the work God sewed in us. We'll see the amount of changed LIVES through our ministry one day because of the work God is and will do! Because as for me and MY house, we SERVE the Lord!
Now, treasure in heaven is never about how many converts you notch out on your sleeves but about God doing a real work in the spiritual lives of His people through you and thus changing lives in the process. It's about the treasure of the harvest and spiritual work God does.
But that's EXACTLY what Christ did when He died on the cross making Himself accessible to people. Making His name be known. Casting away the sins of the flesh, eye, etc. He did it so we could have access to Him. He did it so He could take upon the broken areas of our lives and pin it upon Him, so I don't have to live upon an area of constant want or lack but that that void could be found in Him. If Christmas is about gifts, why not look at the greatest gift of all: salvation.
So, friend, can I introduce you to the Bread of Life with a glass of Living Water?
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