John 6:27-40

While listening to a seminar on sales techniques, I was struck by a statement of the instructor. She was talking about how you should approach different types of people, the difficulty of selling some types of products, and how selling her product was more difficult than selling shoes. Her statement was “after all, anyone can sell shoes, right?”

While this sounds like an obvious statement to some people (probably to many husbands who look at the shoes in their wife’s closet), the reality is that shoes can be quite difficult to sell. When I go shoe shopping, I am quite particular. The heels cannot be high. The shoe has to be exceptionally comfortable. The shoe has to have good support. And on, and on, and on…

The point is that it is not always easy to sell something that should be easy to sell. Jesus understood this. It should be easy to sell eternal life. It should be easy to sell the “bread of life.” It should be easy to sell a source of comfort and joy. It isn’t.

Today’s scripture talks about the concept of eternal life, and puts it in words that we should have no trouble understanding. But it was not easy for those listening to Jesus to understand, and it is not always easy for us to understand.

Jesus has given us bread that will keep us from being hungry (if we will eat it) and water that will keep us from being thirsty (if we will drink it). The problem is, we don’t always eat and drink what is good for us. The sale is not always made.

Lent is a good time to rethink our diet. It is a good time to think about what we eat and drink every day. It is a good time to recommit to our relationship with God.

Prayer: Lord, please help us to remember that you provide us with the bread of life. Help us to eat that bread each day, and to live our life as you would have us live it.

Susan Rucker