Why Are You Following Jesus Christ?

Why are you following Jesus Christ?

Are you following Him for the bread that benefits your body or for the bread that satisfies your soul? There are two types of bread that the Scriptures refer to. The first is the bread that benefits the body, which refers to the material things of this world which provide comfort but that have no eternal value. 

There is a provision in the word of God for bread for your body (Matthew 6:11). It is God’s will for us that we prosper (3 John 2) (Psalms 112:3). It is an undeniable fact that no man can live and survive on earth without the bread for the body. God has made provision and great promises that men have all things that pertain to life and godliness. 

His covenant of fulfillment for man is all-encompassing and not limited to the provision of bread for the body. Though it is within His will that you have the good things of life, it should not be at the expense of the salvation of your soul (Matthew 16:26). However, bread for the body has no eternal value and does not benefit the eternal souls of men which Christ died for.

The bread for the body refers to many things which include the riches of this world, power, position, fame, pleasures, greatness and honor which men earnestly crave for. They are the ephemeral; the mundane things and the vanities of the world which adds no eternal values to the soul that will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Psalm 39:4-5 states that the life of a man at its best state on Earth is vanity. 

Likewise, Luke 12:15 states that the life of a man is not measured by his possessions on earth, but by his relationship with God. Therefore true profit in the world is not based on vanities and chasing shadows. Riches can do wonders in the lives of men on earth but cannot deliver a soul from eternal destruction. Only righteousness can deliver the soul of men from spiritual death (Proverbs 11:4).

The second bread is that which satisfies your soul. The provision for this bread is the totality of the Word of God. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said that men shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. While your body will die someday and return to the dust, your soul lives on forever as it was not created to die. It lives on either in heaven or hell based on the choices that you make while living. The bread that can deliver your soul is the total Word of God which includes repentance, holiness, righteousness, purity, sanctification, restitution, faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, prayer, fruits of the spirit, forgiveness and others.

It is in this view that the Bible says in Matthew 6:33 that you should seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and then other things (bread for the body) will be added unto you. God wants you to place greater emphasis on the needs that determine the destination of your eternal soul and much less attention to the wants of your perishing body.

Your relationship with God is what counts at the end of the day. What constitutes this relationship? Basically, it is your reverential fear of Him and obedience to His commandments. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says that your whole duty here on earth is to fear God and obey His commands. Psalm 128:1 also says that ‘blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and walketh in His ways.’

In John Chapter 6, the multitudes followed Jesus. He fed the huge crowd with five loaves and two fishes which was a miraculous event that provided bread for their bodies. But when he began to teach them about the true and the eternal bread that can satisfy their souls and how to have it, many of them could not absorb it. They said in John 6:60 that, ‘this is a hard saying: who can hear it? And in John 6:66, many turned back from following Him except the twelve disciples who remained.

To spend your lifetime on earth seeking bread for the body alone and living by it is to be earthly focused and not heavenly focused. True disciples are the heavenly focused Christians who are ready to pay the price in Mark 8:34 to make it to heaven following Jesus. Eternity with Christ in heaven is for the disciples and certainly not for the multitudes (Matthew 7:13-14).

Isaiah 55:2 warns:

‘Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.’

Likewise, John 6:27 says: ‘Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life…’

Why are you spending your one lifetime lusting for the mundane things and the vanities of this world which do not really satisfy your soul?  Your immortal soul can only be satisfied with the immortal God and what it takes to relate with Him. All the pleasures, wealth and riches of the world cannot equate a soul which is so priceless that only the Blood of Jesus could redeem it.

Jesus came to show you the way to eternity. Having shown you the way, are you following Him because you want to reign with Him eternally in heaven, or you want an earth focused Christian life that may end up in Hell?  Why are you following Christ? Is it for the temporary bread that benefits your perishable body on earth or the imperishable and eternal bread of life that satisfies your eternal soul.

Ayodele Adegbulugbe
www.relationship4growth.blogspot.com 

Phone:+2348035978352

Email:ayodeleade2002@yahoo.com
Lagos, Nigeria