Lent Week 4
Lent is a season of six weeks that prepares us to celebrate Easter. Each week we are praying as a church, asking God to ready our minds and hearts to commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Lent is also a time to be aware of things holding us back from the abundant life God desires for us, and to renew our commitment to God in areas we’ve held back from him. Central to Lent is the idea that we need God’s renewal throughout our whole lives. We need his presence to nourish our souls every single day.
This week, we are reading from the words of John’s Gospel which remind us that Jesus is the ‘bread of life’, and that he alone has the ability to nourish us at the deepest level. It’s a reminder that our deepest hunger cannot be met by success or self-sufficiency. Nor can it be met by physical things because it’s a spiritual hunger for God.
Scripture
John 6:26-36
When [the crowd] found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell 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 to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’
Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’ So they asked him, ‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’
Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’
Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Prayer
Lord God,
you have renewed me with the living bread from heaven,
which gives life to the world.
By it you nourish my faith,
increase my hope,
and strengthen my love.
Teach me to always hunger
for him who is the true and living bread,
and empower me to live by every word
that proceeds from your mouth.
Holy Spirit,
Help me in my workplaces and home
to not live for food that spoils,
but for food that endures eternally.
Nourish me with your presence,
that Jesus may live in me,
and I in him forever.
Amen