JESUS IS GOOD NUTRITION

Jesus, help me eat "the bread of life" by listening to you! Amen.

"I am the living bread from heaven," Jesus told a crowd. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever. Just as my father sent me and gave me life, anyone who feeds on me will live."

Any kid knows that food keeps you alive. Good food gives you energy and helps you grow, but junk food just gives you a "sugar high" that goes away quickly and has bad effects. (Ask the kids you know who have gotten cavities in their teeth from too much candy!)

This week's Gospel (John 6:51-58) might be about the difference between good nutrition and bad. Jesus tells a crowd that He Himself is like food, because He was sent into the world by God the Father to nourish people with the things He taught.

That, says Jesus, makes Him "living bread from heaven": He helps people grow.

Junk food tastes good because it has lots of sugar, salt or fat. Too much of those things, though, and you'll get sick. To Jesus, the bad lessons people had learned about God -- that God was scary or mean -- were like junk food. Those lessons didn't help people get healthier and closer to God, but made them feel yucky.

Nutritious food makes your body feel great, which can help your mind feel good, too! Jesus' lessons were like good food: He taught people to get closer to God and to treat each other well.

Not all food that's good for you tastes great, too. Sometimes, even the good things Jesus taught made people a little uncomfortable: for example, when He asked them to change bad behavior.

Like good food, though, they "ate" by listening to Jesus and doing their best. When they heard that the "bread of life" could help them live forever in heaven, that was a meal they wanted to eat!

(05/22/08)