Finding happiness

‘I am telling you the truth’. Jesus said. ‘What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir’, they asked him, ‘give us this bread always’. ‘I am the bread of life’, Jesus told them. ‘Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.’ (verses 32-35)

Read John 6:27-40

‘Wouldn’t it be nice to win a million dollars?’ runs the jingle. Lots of people think it would be very nice indeed. They imagine that all their worries would be over if they were rich. Yet the pages of history are littered with tales of fabulously wealthy people who have been anything but happy.

This is what Jesus was trying to teach his followers. ‘You don’t just have material needs, you have spiritual needs as well’, he was saying. ‘You don’t just need food, you need God.’

Is there something you are striving for that you think will make you happy? Finding a job? A new car? Paying off your debts? Hiring a housemaid? It’s true that many things, including these, might bring happiness. But only until you find something else you think will make you happy. You see, there is a God-shaped hole in every human heart, and no amount of worldly toys can ever hope to fill it.

I want things, Lord Jesus, yet I know they won’t make me happy for long. Help me to seek you first and to put the ‘toys’ in their place. Amen.

by Linda Macqueen, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)

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