Based on John 6:1-71
MEMORY TEXT: “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27).
The Jewish nation chafed under Roman rule. They worked hard to feed and clothe their families, yet they had to pay high taxes to the Roman government. They longed for the day when their promised Messiah would free them and they could once again be their own nation. Can you imagine what hope they must have had when they saw what Jesus was able to do? There before their eyes, He was healing the sick; and He had just feed thousands of people by simply breaking the food into portions. Why not crown Him king right now? With a king like that, their troubles would be over. Jesus knew what the people were thinking, so when the meal was over, Jesus sent everyone away.
But the people were not to be put off. They were intent on making Jesus their king, and so they got into their boats and went to look for Him. When they found Him in Capernaum, they asked how He had gotten there. Jesus knew why they had followed Him and answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled” (John 6:26).
It’s good to love Jesus and to pray to Him. But is it possible that we might think of Him as a heavenly vending machine? Could you and I be attracted to Jesus for material reasons? Jesus invites us to bring to Him all our needs; but is this the reason we claim to be Christians?
What is more important to us, our material life or our spiritual life? It is a matter of priorities. I have heard some current television ministers say that, if we will come to Jesus, He will make us rich. This is a wrong motivation. We should not see the Lord as merely a solution to our material needs. If we do, the tendency will be to forget the Lord once our needs have been met.
Let’s pray that God will not let us get so caught up in the material things of our present life that we forget to look to the One who has promised us eternal life.
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