We are born again in Christ to live abundantly.

As new creations in Christ, we are like the butterfly, totally different from its former self, the Caterpillar.  From the way it eats, to what it looks for, to what it looks like, and the way it moves.

In the next four sessions, we will look at how living in the spirit, deepens our understanding of the next four fundamentals of life: eating and drinking; fasting; dressing; and working.

In this session, we look at eating and drinking.

One of the primary reasons people have for working at their jobs, is to fulfil a basic necessity of eating and drinking, in order to survive. Many work to feed themselves and their loved ones, and to provide the necessities of life. This motivates them to work hard, but also causes worry in a highly competitive world and a highly disruptive economy.

People look for leaders who can ensure their survival, safety and comfort and are easily shaken by the possibilities of insufficient resources and a dangerous environment.

We learn about Jesus' account of his feeding a multitude of 5000 men, (a number that excluded women and children), in the gospels. In John 6, we learn that it was a boy who supplied five small barley loaves and two small fish. After Jesus gave thanks, broke the fish and leaves, and distributed, the multitudes ate and were satisfied. Twelve baskets of broken pieces of food were collected back. The conclusion and intended action of the people can be seen in John 6:14-15.  After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Later when they found Jesus, in John 6: 26-27, Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Dear friends, our concern for survival, or our desire to fulfil our wants, should not be our key motivation and purpose in life. If it is, it will never be satisfied as there is always more. Rather our main motivation in life should come from our believe in Jesus. From this knowledge and relationship with God, can He guide us out of a slavery to our self-centred desires, and lead us into a liberated life of contribution and community.

In John 4, Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink from a well. As they talked about thirst, the woman initially thought about physical thirst, but Jesus addressed an emotional thirst that the woman had. It was later revealed that the woman have had five husbands before, and was then staying with a man she was not married to.  She had a great emotional thirst that she struggled to satisfy. She had gone from one man to another, and Jesus found her after five failed marriages, when she was cohabiting with a man she was not married to.
Jesus offered her something to satisfy her spiritual thirst, that will also satisfy her emotional thirst.

In John 4: 13-14, Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

We read in John 6: 35, Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Dear friends, if you are a believer, but still struggle with work stress, and former expectations, I urge you to turn to Jesus.  Examine your motivations and fears, and put it at the feet of the cross.

To lead a victorious, abundant life, we must be born again. Our minds must be renewed.  What caused us worries and strife in the past, must be removed. 

I know it is difficult. I can even say that it is 'impossible'. But our God is able. Our God is willing to help us.  Our God is greater than all the impossibilities of our lives.

Let us pray.  Dear Lord Jesus, help me hunger and thirst for you, that I will never be in want or in lack of anything ever again.  Help me be content and desire to be filled spiritually instead, that I may grow in my new life in the spirit, that my spirt self can grow, that I may act in spiritual wisdom and maturity, and desire and pursue you above all else.

I pray this in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, my Saviour and my hope, Amen!

(Song: e.g. As the Deer Panteth for the Waters)

I hope you have been blessed.

See you at the next session!