“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The last couple of weeks I have been meditating on John 6. Specifically, on the verses where Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life. He states that whoever eats the bread of life will never be hungry again. Jesus is making a bold statement here. That bold that after this claim many disciples left Him. While mediating on this I’ve been asking myself the question what it means to me that Jesus is the bread of life, especially during these days? What is the impact of this statement on my daily life, in a world that is in chaos right now?

Before Jesus makes this statement, He feeds a great multitude of people with only 5 loafs of bread and two fishes. The people were amazed by the miracle performed by Jesus. The next morning, the crowd tried their best to find Jesus again. When they finally did, Jesus made it clear that they are only looking for free food. He starts to explain that they need food that will nourish their souls and if they believe they will receive eternal life. They need Jesus as a person, they need the bread of life.

In a way, our lives have been stopped. Stopped from how we used to do things. Like going out for a cup of coffee, hanging out with friends, going to Church, following classes at the University and I can go on with this list forever. We feel like we are missing out on so many activities, people and places. And not knowing when things will go back to ‘normal’, is not helping. But, what I have come to realization that even though we are missing out on so many things, we have gained one thing and that is time. I feel that there is space for us. For our life, not to be reigned by agendas and people. It is confronting and good at the same time. Confronting in a way that we ask ourselves who we are when we can’t hang out with friends, have activities to go to or places to see? The benefit of more time gives us space to enjoy what we really like, to think about what is actually important to us and to find a new hobby.

I want to remind you that also during these days Jesus is the bread of life. When you are confronted with all the extra time and you feel lonely, I want to say I hear you (and Jesus to). It is not easy. Big dot. The fact that Jesus calls Himself the bread of life shows that He is the one who can truly satisfy your soul. He is able to fulfil your heart with everything that you are deeply longing for. Now when you have more time and you aren’t able to fill it up with the usual, Jesus is longing for you to be satisfied with Himself. You lack nothing when you have Him in your life. He is enough. He is all you need. And the more you know Him, the more you hunger and thirst for more of Him.

And with the extra time: maybe try to bake a bread cause, nothing can beat a fresh baked bread. I am going to give it a try.

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