Our family have a ‘thankful’ jar which sits on our kitchen
table at home. At the weekends we think together about the things that we’re
thankful to God for and write or draw them on some paper and pop them in the
jar. At the end of the year we open the
jar and read through all the things we’ve been grateful for over the past year.
It’s fun, faith building and encouraging.
It’s a great reminder that even when difficult things happen we still
have so many things we can choose to thank God for.
In our reading today we see different reactions to Jesus’
teaching. The Jews grumbled (verse 41)
and argued (verse 52) because they couldn’t accept what Jesus said. They were
looking for the kind of Messiah who would give them what they wanted. They
couldn’t accept that he was who he said he was.
Jesus’ own followers grumbled too (verse 61) and many of
them deserted him because the teaching was hard (verse 66). The teaching was
hard not so much in understanding it intellectually but that it asked for their
whole heart and soul.
There was a lot of grumbling going on!
But what Jesus was teaching should have made them
thankful. He offers himself as the bread
of life, the only one who can give eternal life. The One who satisfies and the
One who is the only true God. He is worth giving our whole heart and soul to.
If you’re like me then it’s much easier to grumble than to
be grateful. It’s all too easy to grumble about what is hard and to forget
about what Jesus has given us.
In the face of hardship gratitude is a choice we make. What
Jesus teaches about himself in this passage today can remind us of just how
much we have to be grateful for.
Do you find grumbling easier than gratitude? Talk to God
about that. What is there in this passage that can prompt you to praise?
Response
Use verse 68 as a
prayer of praise that only Jesus has the words of eternal life and to commit
again to following him, heart and soul.
Ellen
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