Never Enough.

…You ate the loaves and had your fill.  John 6:26

 

At the top of the Champs-Élysées in Paris, a few hundred feet from the Arc de Triomphe, you’ll find my personal heaven on earth: Laduree.  This breathtakingly beautiful piece of French real estate is home to, arguably, the world’s finest selection of macarons.  Not to be confused with macaroons (which are also wonderful, but an entirely different delicacy).  What I’m talking about is a sweet meringue-based sandwich confection.  And I adore them.  I like every flavor (twice), and, when given the choice, I lose all sense of myself and throw back these mini works of art like they’re a handful of peanuts.

It’s called IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION, because I have not – probably will not – learn my lesson, and, therefore, have been sick on macarons more times than I care to count.

If only my problem stopped at cookies.

Jesus famously said, I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35).  But buried in that statement, what He wanted us to actually HEAR is:  Immediate gratification will ruin you.

If that’s true, and we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t seem to actually believe in what Jesus has to offer.  And, apparently, it’s been a chronic problem in society for a while now…

What was it that led Jesus to compare Himself to bread in the first place?

It all comes down to twenty-four of the most intensely jam-packed and influential hours of Christ’s time on earth.  Isolated events, many of us can recall with ease, but it’s the sum of the parts that should dramatically change the way we approach living:

After a FULL day of preaching to an estimated 15,000 people, all the restaurants had closed.  No food.  No chance.     (I think it was a set-up)

You know the story:  A child’s lunch of five small loaves of bread and two fish fed the masses.  It was a miracle that challenged even the faith of His disciples.  And after a full day of hearing TRUTH upon TRUTH from the Son of God Himself, it was nothing but a full tummy that ultimately got the people’s attention.

The same people who, later that night, watched as the disciples got on a boat and left for Capernaum.  But Jesus, needing some time alone, had stayed back, no doubt, to process this day with the Father.  As amazing as it had been, it would seem these people had missed the point.

In the dark, while sailing on rough water, a dramatic scene unfolds … [the disciples] had rowed 3 or 4 miles, when they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on water (John 6:19).  You might recall that Peter’s faith was tested that night as he joined Jesus on those waves.

But when the people of Galilee woke up the next morning, they were desperate to find Jesus.  After all, their tummies weren’t full anymore.  He was, however, gone.  Vanished.  At a loss, they got into their boats and sailed across to Capernaum, trying to find the disciples.  But when they found Jesus, already on the other side, they were super confused, and asked, When did YOU get here? (John 6:25)

What happened next is one of the most defining moments in all of scripture:

Jesus didn’t answer their question.  They couldn’t handle the truth.

He didn’t say, “Yeah, you missed it.  What a night!  After we gave out the left-over twelve baskets of food, I walked for like 4 miles ON TOP of the water.  Just ask Peter, I brought him out, too!  Then, when I got on the boat, I went ahead and calmed the waves and we made it over here in no time.  We’ve been gearing up for Capernaum ever since.”

Nope.

What He said was: Very truly I say to you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, BUT FOR FOOD THAT ENDURES…  I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty, but as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. (John 6: 26-37)

What Jesus wanted to show these people – and YOU and ME – is that immediate gratification is:

Cheap.  Worthless.  Counterfeit.  Harmful.  Deceiving.  EMPTY.

But our aim in life continues to be the loaves and fish:

• A promotion
• More sleep
• An engagement ring
• Easy weight loss
• Our next vacation
• An impressive house
• An entire box of macarons

While we generally do expect good things from God, the problem is that what He wants to give us is MUCH MORE than one measly meal.  But we’re so hungry for dinner, we can’t imagine wanting anything else – ever.

We might pretend we’re smarter than those carb-loving Gentiles, but have we really learned our lesson?

On that morning in John 6, those people didn’t know that this “the Bread of Life” was gearing up to be broken for their redemption.  And they didn’t like the eternal plan He was laying out before them.  They preferred another miracle.  In fact, their answer to Jesus was a rather entitled: “Prove It.”

What’s crazy is that He had already proved it!  But signs and wonders satisfy our regenerating hunger for only so long.  And, in the end, Jesus got fed up with people who can’t see past the tip of their own nose.  He finally said, Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. John 6:53.

These words were hard to swallow.  He knew they would be.  But it was time to separate the wheat from the chaff.  And John 6:66 says: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.  Wow.  These were the very disciples that had seen Jesus walk on water mere hours beforehand.  How shallow had their faith become?

Our need for immediate gratification is one of the greatest threats to fulfilling our purpose.  STAMINA is what it takes to be mighty in the kingdom of God.  FIGHT.  DETERMINATION.  FAITH.  TRUST.  CONVICTION.

We are so consumer based that we’ve forgotten we are called to be PRODUCERS.  Jesus is the Bread of Life, after all, because He GAVE Himself.

So what will it be?  Loaves and fish for a night?  Or do you want to be so busy focusing on the part you strategically play in the kingdom of God that you forget to care about the mundane?   Because this is the person Christ came looking to use.  And while I might have to tattoo His truth on the tip of MY nose, I desire to chase it with abandon.

Even if it means less macarons.  😉  You in??