The Bread, man

“It is only when [we] begin to worship that [we] begin to grow”
Calvin Coolidge (30^th American President)

'Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never grow hungry...'

John 6:35 

My family and I were out at a café recently and the twins were sitting in their pram whilst we were having coffee. A man walked passed and said “Don’t feed them, because they’ll grow up.” What a dumb, yet truthful statement!

We forget that in order to grow, we need to be fed. It’s such an obvious truth that we don’t even process it on a daily basis. Sure, we may watch what we eat in order to watch our weight, but does it ever sink in that food is what makes us grow? I’m not sure that it does because I constantly hear people in church talking about growth in many different ways. “I want to grow our youth group.” “Why aren’t we seeing growth in our men’s ministry?” “How can I grow in my knowledge of the Bible?” Have you heard these or similar comments? I have, countless times.

Jesus talks about growth. He told us, “I am the bread of life.” What else could He have meant other than: come to Me, and you’ll grow. Yes, you’ll be fed. Yes, you’ll be satisfied. But, you will also grow. He doesn’t tell us to come to church in order to grow, and I find that interesting. He doesn’t say that ‘church’ is the bread of life, or ‘fellowship’ is the bread of life, or ‘cell groups’ are the bread of life.

No, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is the Bread-of-Life. Church helps! Fellowship is key! Small groups are a rich source of encouragement! But knowing and encountering JESUS, that’s how we grow!

Growing ain’t easy, there was a TV series on many years back, one of Leo DiCaprio’s first acting gigs, it was called ‘Growing Pains’. Growing stretches us, it gives us strength and new and greater opportunities. It involves trying new things, redefining our boundaries, exploring new paradigms – and this is most often scary! Here’s how we do it GOD’s way, through worship. You see, worship is a love response to GOD’s love for us, and, inside the operation of that love is GOD’s protection.

Our hearts and spirits need to be intrinsically interwoven into what we do, into what we say, into what we think. This is worship. It’s about lifestyle, it’s about passion, it’s about being reverently responsive.

It’s about love. And inside of that love, we will grow.