Last Saturday was a beautiful day; several families of us went out to a local state park to enjoy its beautiful summer scenery. I was astonished to see such a huge crowd around the park, even at late afternoon when we were about to leave, we still see people entering the park. When we were at the park, I could literally see people everywhere, for BBQ, running, walking and boating. The air was filled with aroma of BBQ-ing and it stirred up my taste buds too 🙂

Seeing this amazing scene, it reminds me of the “hungry crowd of people” who followed Jesus to a desert place. According to the Gospel of Matthew, it was the time after Jesus heard the beheading news of John the Baptist. As Jesus withdrew by boat privately to a desert place, the crowds found it out and followed Him. From Matthew’s recording, you may see an interesting contrast between Jesus and His disciples – Jesus’ compassion vs. the disciples’ reluctance to the crowds because of their limited understanding of Jesus’ power. In the end, we learned that no matter how limited they are the compassionate Jesus could turn their limited “five loaves of bread and two fish” into a feeding feast to well over 5,000 people. What a miracle!

I was not sure how many people were in the state park last Saturday but I estimate it would be fewer than 5000 people. Imagine if Jesus appears to the crowds in the park and shouted, “Come here to eat! I have bread and fish” Do you think people will come? I would say, “Probably not, because they brought their own food and were satisfied already.” This tells us one simple truth, “If you are hungry for something, you will look for it.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus declared that He is the “Bread of Life (John 6:35)” ； “Living Water (John 7:38)”; “Light of the world (John 8:12)”; “Gate for the sheep (John 10:7)”; “Good Shepherd (John 10:11)”; “The Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)”; and the “True Vine (John 15:1)” . 我是生命的糧；我是活水；我是世界的光；我是羊的門；我是好牧人；我是道路真理生命；還有，我是真葡萄樹. He told us that “No one come to the Father except through Him.” It is clear to us that He is the only way to God the Father. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, like the crowd in the park, if we are not hungry for Him, we would be hungry for worldly things – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life肉體的情慾、眼目的情慾並今生的驕傲. So, a question to you is “Are you hungry for Jesus?” Hope your answer is “Yes!”
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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.