This is the time of year when Pastors write devotions about News Years resolutions. Do you believe in them? Have you made any? If so, did you stop and take stock of any resolutions from the past? Did you discern why they did, or didn’t, succeed?
I’m all in favor of resolutions, even though most of mine fail miserably. Even if yours do, it’s important to take some time and think about ways we could make ourselves better people. Are you resolving to exercise more, be more careful about what you eat? Are you finally committing yourself to improving your bowling, learning to play the guitar or running your first marathon? Is this the year you will repaint the spare bedroom and get your spring flowers planted before anyone else?
These are all wonderful resolutions, and I encourage you to explore them. But could we perhaps resolve to do something more lasting? Something with eternal significance?
In today’s Scripture lesson, Jesus has just fed 5000 people in the wilderness. Immediately afterwards, he skedaddles to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Naturally, the people run after him, anxious to track him down. They want more bread! The moment they find him, they immediately start asking Jesus for more bread. But as is typical with John’s gospel, Jesus and the people are soon talking past each other.
The people want bread to fill their stomachs. Bread that will fill them for a day, or even just a few hours. It says something about how hungry they are, or how uncertain their food supply is, that they are willing to put so much time and energy into looking for Jesus.
Jesus, however, offers a different kind of bread. He offers himself, the bread of eternal life. “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Obviously, Jesus is exaggerating. He is using a figure of speech. To put it more clearly, Jesus is telling the people that if they will trust him, if they will live lives of self-giving love, just like he is doing, they will be spiritually filled in this life and forever. They will be spiritually satisfied forever.
This is the kind of resolution we should be making. A resolution with eternal significance. Not a resolution that will solve an immediate problem, but a resolution that will make a difference in this life and the next.
May God be with us all as we resolve to face 2025 spiritually fed. Pastor Ken.