WHAT FEEDS YOU?

"What does this feed in you?" My friend was asking her young-adult offspring how a particular relationship served to meet needs that should be met instead by Christ.

What a powerful question.

When I am discontent because my circumstances weary me and I long for rest, I imagine sleep will satisfy my discontent. Enough Zzzzzz's will mollify my disquiet. No, sleep will not give me a tranquil soul. Christ is my rest!

When I am melancholy because a relationship that should be intimate and joyful is instead cold and strained, when I brood over what should be and fret over what is, I fall prey to the lie that this relationship can ultimately satisfy my longings for fellowship and intimacy. No, no earthly relationship will completely satisfy my desire to know and to be known. I can only find that in Christ, my brother, my King, my Bridegroom!

Maybe I would feel significant and secure if I had a snazzier resume, or an impressive portfolio, or an address book with a red-carpet catalog of friends. I would feel successful if my kids grew up to be Super Saints who rocked the world. I would know I was really somebody if I impacted lives for Christ. No, it's not what I do FOR Christ - rather, it's who I am IN Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ alone satisfies my need for security, significance, and purpose.

How about you - Are you hungry to be beautiful? To be financially secure? To be known? To do great things? What are you hungry for? And, on what are you feeding to satisfy that hunger?

Feed on the bread that nourishes true life, the bread that satisfies forever. Feed on Christ.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink...Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. - Jesus, speaking in John 6:55a, 58b

What food luxurious loads the board, when at his table sits the Lord! The wine how rich, the bread how sweet, when Jesus deigns the guests to meet! - Charles H. Spurgeon, from his hymn Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands