Jesus declared “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.”

Devotion based on John 6:35

Over the past twenty years, a man named Michael Pollan has written books and given talks about finding good food to eat and avoiding bad food. He has a wonderful knack for avoiding all the nutritionist jargon. Instead, he works to keep his advice clear, simple, and practical. Over time, his words of wisdom have included: “Don’t eat anything with ingredients you cannot pronounce.” “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognize.” “Stay out of the middle of the supermarket. Shop on the perimeter of the store.” And finally, “Do not eat anything that won’t eventually rot.”

His pithy statements make the point. In our modern world of artificial ingredients and ultra-processed foods, be careful not to fill up your body with food that is not real. To do so is to invite malnutrition and a whole host of chronic health problems. Instead, stick to food that is real.

In this sinful, fallen world of lies and deceptions, spiritual junk food is all around me. There are all kinds of things I can consume to fill up the emptiness in my soul. I can fill it with pleasure. I can fill it with popularity. I can fill it with worldly success. I can fill it with alcohol and drugs. I can fill it with recreation and entertainment. I can fill it with a hobby. I can fill it with politics and current events. I can even try to fill the emptiness of my soul with food.

But it will not satisfy. It will not fill the void. Instead, it will only starve my soul. It will only push me further away from where I need to be. Such is the nature of sin—your sin and mine.

Enter Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” Only the one who has come to confront the ultimate problem of sin. Only the one who has our sin taken away at the cross. Only the one who has risen from death. Only he can fill your empty soul.

Prayer: