“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:35-37)

What great comfort we hear in Jesus’ promise that all who believe in Him have eternal life. And yet, we see that the Jews were quite agitated by the way Jesus said this. He referred to Himself as the bread of life. They knew He was not talking about cannibalism, but about something that was just as repulsive to them. Bread to them was the symbol of life, the cornerstone of nutrition, that which supported physical life. By calling Himself the Bread of Life, Jesus was saying that He is the cornerstone of life, as indispensable as bread. Jesus was saying is that He is the source of all life, physical and eternal, that He is God Himself.

In doing so Jesus revealed that entrance into His Kingdom is not a matter of our choice, but God’s. It is not we who choose God, but God Who draws us to Himself. He gives us the faith we need to believe and obey. Believing by faith is it means to eat of the bread of Jesus.

Hence faith is a supernatural act that is effected by God in those who He calls, not something we can build up to. In faith we believe in Jesus as Savior and the source of eternal life. By faith we give Him our life here on earth and place it in His hands. It means sacrifice, surrender, obedience and holy living in the midst of a dark world that is going in the opposite direction. It means following Christ when it hurts to do so, when we, like Elijah the prophet, face persecution from those who hate Jesus, or when we encounter ridicule from our friends and relatives who see no reward in what we believe. Faith is supernatural power of Christ working in us enabling us to believe and trust in Him even when the physical evidence tells us otherwise.