Imagine you're on a trip to the beach, and it's 50 miles away. To get there, a friend offers to drive you and a few of your friends. So you all get into your friend's car, and he drives you off to the beach.
Let's say halfway through the drive, you see a sign that says "Beach 25 miles away," and your friend, who owns and drives the car, stops and says, "We're here!" He then proceeds to pull out a tanning bed and sits under the sign, thinking you're already at your destination.
As funny as that may sound, many Christians face a spiritual parallel. Our lives, God's Word and the Christian experience, are filled with signs that all point to Jesus Christ as our ultimate destination. Those signs could be anything from blessings, miracles, wealth, and provision.
Sadly though, so many people today stop at the signs, thinking they've reached their destination, without realising they're not there yet. When we focus too much on blessings, signs, wonders, and miracles at the expense of truly arriving at our destination where we can experience Christ, we completely miss the point.
In John 6:26-27 Jesus conversed with a crowd who made that same mistake. People had come to see Him not for who He was—He was the Son of God who would bring eternal life to all—but for the benefit they could get from Him.
Scripture proceeds to tell us: "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.'"
People had come to Jesus because they heard of the many things he could provide—unlimited bread and fish, healing, overflowing wine, catchy preachings, and so on.
Let's stop for a moment and ask ourselves: Why do we want to experience God? What's the true motive of our heart? Is it to experience the blessing, or the God who blesses? Is it to gain healing, or to meet the healer? Is it to receive breakthrough, or to receive the breakthrough giver?
More than just the signs, wonders and miracles, let us seek the Person who is Jesus Christ.
Where can we find the food that endures for eternity? There's only one source: the Bread of Life (John 6:35), Jesus Himself, who satisfies completely. In Him we will never go hungry or thirsty, not just in the physical sense but also, and more importantly, in the spiritual aspect.
