I’m a bottom-line kind of guy. As an internal processor, I respond best to conversations where I know what we’re talking about upfront rather than having to wade through a lengthy preamble or setup before arriving at the heart of the matter.
God bless my dear wife. She’s the exact opposite. She’s a verbal processor. Her most natural way to communicate is to begin with a detailed description of the process that produced what she wants to say before she actually says it.
Early in our marriage, this drove me crazy. But over the years, I’ve come to appreciate and even highly value this aspect of who she is. I’ve learned how to stay engaged with her through these verbal wanderings and to even encourage them because my life is vastly richer and my understanding much broader due to this gift of her communication style.
But on those rare occasions when she approaches me with the words, “Honey, here’s the bottom line,” I just go weak in the knees, and I’m putty in her hands.
So, John 6:47 is my kind of verse.
With absolute clarity and economy of words, Jesus emphatically stated the bottom line. He said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Then, after coming right to the point, He proceeded to explain what this kind of belief is like.
In verses 48-51, He described Himself as the Bread of Life and said that salvation is the result of eating this Bread. And He leaves no mystery about it. He plainly states that the Bread He’s talking about is His body and that He will be offering it up in order to provide life to the world.
In other words, saving faith requires more than just arriving at an intellectual or philosophical agreement with the truth of His Messiahship. It requires consuming, taking in, or internalizing this truth. It means welcoming Jesus INTO our lives.
There’s a saying, “You are what you eat.” And it means the food we consume exerts profound influence on our lives. Our health, energy, appearance, mood, intelligence, and so much more are shaped by it. We literally can’t live without it. But it has to be eaten in order to be of benefit. Being in the same room as a plate of food or just sitting there looking at it and considering its attributes will accomplish nothing.
In a similar way, exercising a faith that goes beyond mere contemplation and actually begins ingesting the Bread of Life is what brings our spirits to life and shapes every aspect of our eternal selves. So, you’ll understand what I mean when I say salvation requires feasting on Jesus.
And He clarified what He meant by this when in Matthew 4:4 he quoted Moses in Deuteronomy and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” We internalize Jesus as we feed on God’s Word, the Bible.
So today, let’s sit down at the table He’s prepared for us and dive in. Open His Word, and enjoy the feast that produces life everlasting.