The bread of eternal life, the core substance that we need to
become what we aspire to become, is in the person of
Jesus Christ: His Atonement, His suffering for sin, and the
resultant capacity to extend mercy.
He can heal and forgive and cleanse anything.
I don't think everyone realizes that when we do sin
and we turn away from God, it does something in us.
And when we repent and turn to Him, that effect in us is
taken away.
With His Atonement, we become different people than we would
be without it.
And its power is infinite, truly infinite, and can reach
down and sanctify and make holy to the
uttermost any soul.
There's a purpose in life far beyond living comfortably.
The bread we receive is to enable us to act
and help and serve.
Not only are we helping, but we're being blessed and helped
and changed.
We're not transformed, as you know, overnight.
These things come in process of time.
Their changes are incremental, and people don't see them
until they look back--see where they are, as opposed to
where they were.
Just as I learned not to expect immediate deliverance
from a problem, He's also saying, "I'm
patient with your progress.
I'll just help you along day by day." And all of that truly
does add up to a dramatic change and eternal difference.
When the Israelites finally did cross the Jordan into
their promised land, they were expected by God to remember
Him,
to think of Him, to look to Him, to have faith in Him.
As we turn to Him each day and remember Him each day, we come
to know by experience that He's real and that He does
care about and love us and is minister to us, just as He
did the ancient Israelites, because He is
the bread of life.