Scripture
From this time on, many of his disciples turned back. They no longer followed Him.
~John 6:66, NIRV
Quote
If you want to be popular, preach happiness. If you want to be unpopular, preach holiness.
~Vance Havner
John 6 is a very interesting chapter. It begins with the large crowds following Jesus every where He went and the feeding of the five thousand. After then huge outdoor block party where Jesus fills all the stomachs with hush puppies and fish, He and His disciples slip away during the night to the other side of the lake but the crowds relentlessly pursue. When they locate Jesus He turned to them and says, “You are following me because of the miracles I do. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and fish and you want more. Do not work for food that spoils, work for food that last forever and that is the kind of food I can give you.” Multitudes want covet Jesus blessings but they don’t want Jesus Himself, just the benefit of His miracles. They want free dinners and free medical care but they do not want a cross.
Later in chapter six, Jesus tells the crowd, “I am the bread of life.” The fish and hush puppies you had yesterday is gone which is why you are hungry for more today. This kind of bread does not satisfy but the bread that I can give you will satisfy you forever. Eventually Jesus says, “You must eat the Son of Man’s body and drink His blood. If you don’t, you will die.” When Jesus disciples heard this they said, “This is a hard sayings, who can accept it? From this point on many of His disciples turned back, they no longer followed Jesus.
I think, I am not positive, that you can unfollow someone on Facebook. I know you can on Twitter. These initial followers who were following for the wrong reasons were discouraged by Jesus hard teaching and they decided to unfollow Jesus. Many people want the good that Jesus and His body the Church can do for them but they are not about to commit their lives to HIM. They are like the Jews who wanted God but not His Son. God cannot give anyone peace, joy and forgiveness apart from His Son. Paul says in Ephesians one that everything on God’s menu of spiritual blessings comes with Christ. You reject Jesus and you will forfeit everything God has for you.
- Yesterday proved to be very exciting but in the wrong way. Joe and Joe David were working at Neel Methodist when Jarvis got into the chain saw. Thank God, he was not injured severely. It was a fright for awhile but we praise God for sparing Jarvis’s life