What kind of food will satisfy our hungry souls? When we start to pray about our longings, we often discover that what we want is not what we need. We get distracted by the toys and trinkets our world dangles before us—fame, success, material wealth. We’re not unlike the crowd in Jesus’ day who followed Him only because they wanted another free meal (see v. 26).
How did Jesus respond to them? Not by sending them away, but by offering them what they really needed: Himself. Like us, they were sinners in need of a Savior. He knew they needed life, not stuff. They were preoccupied with the goods and services Jesus could provide for them. Yet that wasn’t a deal breaker; it was simply a symptom of their need. Jesus knew it, and offered them
true bread.
When we bring our hunger and the longings of our hearts to God, He doesn’t give us everything we ask for. He gives us Jesus who lived and died for us—not a one-size-fits-all answer to our longings, but the explosive, life-generating force of His death and resurrection.