01/12/2026
Where do we receive our sustenance from? What type of food do we depend on most for our nourishment? As humans we are omnivorous which means we eat a variety of foods. Some of us like salads and vegetables, some like chicken, beef, or grain, and others prefer a mixture, but as we grow more mature in our spiritual selves our diet undergoes a dramatic change. We see this in the preferred diet of Jesus Himself… He longs to dine on God’s will and Word.
“So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
John 4:33-34 ESV
There is a very common tendency among us when we are highly focused on a certain task, mission, or problem, and that is to neglect physical food. It occurs when we are worried or in mourning, or sickly as well. In these times food just doesn’t seem to concern us much and our appetite diminishes. Mothers are very familiar with feeling this way. I remember my own mother going through periods without eating as she fretted over a sick child, and I know that as my wife would also become involved in preparing meals for our family that she would not feel like eating herself. We have all heard the saying that “my mother hasn’t had a hot meal in years.” Not eating is common, but if we do this for very long it isn’t good for our bodies. Not regularly eating spiritual food has the same negative impact on us too.
“Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.”
Jeremiah 15:16 ESV
Jesus was singularly focused on obeying the will of God; so much so that physical food often didn’t appeal to Him. His apostles found that they had to bring Him meals, but in fact He was being fed a much different diet. Jesus was being sustained by His efforts to Serve God, and the intensity with which He did this stifled His desire for physical nourishment. Thus, during His life, Jesus went without food for various reasons, and He did so on several occasions. By way of example, He withheld food from himself when he fasted in the wildereness:
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Matthew 4:1-2 ESV
He didn’t eat when food was scarce and He needed to feed others, as we see in the miracle of the loaves and fishes. On this occasion there is no mention of Jesus or His disciples eating as the 5000 were fed:
“Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”
John 6:11 ESV
And, in the case of our opening scripture (John 4:33-34) He also didn’t eat when He was preoccupied with doing the will of God.
So, I ask again... Where do we receive our sustenance from? Are we totally absorbed in the physical world, and feed ourselves entirely on its bounty, or are we fed primarily spiritual food as the apostles were? Since we are both physical and spiritual creatures we are considered omnivorous, thus we have need for both physical and spiritual sustenance to survive and remain healthy. But we also find that our desire for nourishment changes as one of our nature’s increases and is overshadowed by the other.
“and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
1 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV
As we grow spiritually, the Word of God becomes our primary source of nourishment. Have we experienced this in our personal walks of faith?
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
1 Peter 2:2-3 KJV
Perhaps God is providing us with a secret food; a hidden manna that keeps us strong...
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
Revelation 2:17 KJV
Whatever we consider the source of our nourishment to be, and so that our various forms of food can sustain us equally, we must consume a variety of foods in order to remain healthy. In our focal scripture this morning, Jesus was not denying himself spiritual food even though He had little desire for physical food. As He was growing in spiritual stature His appetite was beginning to diminish physically. The balance of His diet shifted in Him from being a bodily one to a spiritual one, but He still found Himself to be thirsty and hungry.
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.””
John 19:28 ESV
Where are we in the balance between our physical and spiritual hunger and development? To answer this question, we only need to look at what we are eating... so what is on our menu today? What are we craving? Do we long for steak and potatoes? Or do we sit for hours praying and studying the Word of God without any thought or desire for physical nourishment?
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.””
Matthew 4:1-4 CSB
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for placing a spiritual nature within my physical self. I thank you for your hand that is within the glove which is my body. As I select my meals today, let their balance shift heavily towards those things that your Holy Spirit provides for me. Give me increase in you Holy Father as my desire increases today to dine with Jesus Christ at your table. Let His bread and His wine be my meal... my blessing... my nourishment. Most Merciful Father you are my provider and I look to you for provision in all things. You feed me, clothe me, and provide me with shelter, and you do this both spiritually and in this world. Your Word is my milk, your Son my bread and wine, and your secret manna my hidden strength in prayer and service to you. Help me Father to increase spiritually as my body diminishes. We are meant to age physically, and to die, but our spirits are to continue on... prepare me Father for this inevitability, and feed that within me which will live on with you in eternity. Strengthen my faith, my spirit, my soul, so that I might worship and sing praised unto you forever. Praised be your name from within the depths of my soul, and from my place at your table.
“This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.””
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Rich Forbes