Seven times in gospel of John, Jesus uses the term “I am” to give us insight into his nature and purpose. Who he is and why he came.

John 6:25-33

Jesus is encouraging these people to live their lives with an eternal perspective. With a God filter on. He is saying there is bread, and then there is bread.

1. Live your life with a God inspired purpose
God’s purpose for you is to work and to produce.  Working is a divine calling. The question is not should we working? The question is, what are we working for and what are we producing?

What’s your purpose, your motivation, what drives you? Do you see what you do as a holy calling?

Even as a Christian we can live our lives at a base level. Where even our relationship with God revolves around meeting and securing our temporal needs and desires. Our focus is on , getting the house or unit, building our business, a new car, our next overseas holiday, the new kitchen, the new bathroom, the new 3d TV, the promotion, the new job.
John 6:26 I tell you, you have been searching for Me, not because you saw the miracles and signs but because you were fed with the loaves and were filled and satisfied.

Jesus never said that having possessions was wrong or that temporal things weren’t important. He had just fed the multitude with an amazing miracle. Were they going to starve to death if he didn’t feed them? No.
Jesus has no problem working miracles to provide for us.

It’s when they are the reason we are following him. Seeking him. When they are the focus of our life and we are living for them. That is what he says is a waste of a life.

John 6:27 (Amplified) Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes [in the using], but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food which endures [continually] unto life eternal; the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that.
Jesus says to focus on the things that matter. That make a difference. That are lasting. That bring real satisfaction. Even into eternity.

As a church we have a calling, a purpose, a job to do, given by God. When you tithe. when you give. When you invest your time. when you serve. When you lead. You are working and producing things that matter for eternity.

We can put our whole focus on our career. Our home. Our next holiday. None of these things will bring you lasting satisfaction. They are like food. You can stuff yourself today and think I could never eat another thing.
But come lunch time or dinner the next day, your hungry again.

2. Look for God’s Approval
Mat 3:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
So often we think our motives for doing things are pure, but we are all driven by our need for approval. To get someone’s nod in our direction.
Even Jesus was given approval by the Father. At baptism Matt 3 and at transfiguration Matt 17 God spoke about his Son.
I encourage you to look for God’s approval. For what pleases the father.

3. Recognise the source of your blessing
Matt 3:32 “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it was my Father”

How often do we look at the faucet as the source of our water supply, rather then the dam. We look at our boss, our super, our home, the company we work for and say they are giving us security, or prosperity, or peace.

But it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth Deut 8:18
But does not want our increases in blessing to mean simply an increase in our standard of living, but an increase in our standard of giving.

When Jesus says I am the bread of life, he is saying I am the substance of real life. I am the source and I am the critical element.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 1:47 pm and is filed under I AM Series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.