Full, or Nourished? 
By Becky Rule

Our daughter Rachael and I recently accompanied Mike on a trip to a near-by town where he had some meetings. Since the appointments straddled supper time and we did not have a lot of time to spare, we reluctantly decided to pick up some fast food and eat in the car to allow Mike time to rest before his second meeting. Rachael and I visited the local library while Mike was busy, then picked him up once he was through. On the way back to where we had dropped him off, from the back seat I heard a pleading voice say, "Mom, when we get home can we please have something with nourishment? I’m full, but I feel hungry!"

It took me some moments before I answered Rachael because the depth of her statement hit me full force. I had been experiencing the same sensation but could not have expressed it so beautifully—"I’m full, but I feel hungry." We had eaten our fill, but we were not satisfied. We were still hungry, not nourished.

I realized this was not only true of our stomachs but of our lives. We can commonly find ourselves in this condition! Our lives are full, but they lack nourishment. We stuff our calendars and schedules, our homes, our minds, our emotions, our eyes and ears, and our stomachs. Ours is a society that is consumed with consumption. We have countless opportunities to be filled to overflowing with meetings, recreation, possessions, food, entertainment, relationships, education, etc. As Christians we have channeled and honed our appetites and activities to surround the "good" and to reflect a godly worldview, but consumption is still consumption and we are still attempting to fill our lives. We sometimes believe our improved versions are "better" than what the world desires, and that WE are "better" people because we desire "better" things and take in what is "better." However, the root often remains the same--we consume because our hearts want more. We, too, have the sensation of being stuffed, but we are not satisfied. Why? We are not taking in true nourishment.

I continued to ponder Rachael’s statement the following day, and I vaguely remembered previously asking God to explain what Jesus meant when He said, "…it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven." (John 6:32) I had been particularly intrigued by the word TRUE. To me, it implied that counterfeit or false bread was also available, and I wondered about it and what it looked like. Now He was giving me my answer. Moses gave bread, but Jesus is the Bread OF LIFE—that which nourishes and yields life. Jesus specifically refers to Bread OF LIFE more than four times in that passage. May He grant us wisdom to discern the differences between that which yields true nourishment from that which only makes us feel full. And may we be willing to take in the TRUE Bread of LIFE that we would flourish!