“The Food That Endures To Eternal Life!”

“The Food That Endures To Eternal Life!”(Jn.6:22-29).
At a meeting of the Lagos branch of the Umuofia Progressive Union, Joshua, a messenger who had been sacked for sleeping on duty asked for a loan. Before the loan was approved the President berated Joshua saying, “You did not leave Umuofia four hundred miles away to come and sleep in Lagos. There are enough beds in Umuofia. If you don’t want to work, you better return there…”
In a follow-up humour somebody said, “It is money, not work. We left plenty of work at home. Anyone who likes work can return home, take up his machete and go into that bad bush between Umuofia and Mbiamo. It will keep him occupied to his last days.” The meeting agreed that it was money, and not work, that brought them to Lagos. (Chinua Achebe, “No Longer At Ease”).
Few years back while we were Lecturers at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Kumba, my colleague, Rev. Dr. Margaret Azange shared this experience with us: She was attending a Conference in Accra. On board her flight to Accra were Cameroonians who were going to see the late Prophet TB Joshua in Nigeria. On her return flight and during the stopover in Lagos many Nigerians boarded the plane to come and receive Papal blessings as the Pope was visiting Camerron.
My colleague then wondered, “What are people actually looking for?” Christian prostitution makes migrants of people as they move from one church to the other in the same vicinity, or from one town to another or from country to country.
The other way round, (Wo)Men of God move from one town to the other or from country to country – to the very places which are already proliferated with their colleagues.
The question is, “Are all these crisscrossings still in search for Christ and salvation?” Once upon a time Jesus fed 5,000 people with “five small barley loaves and two small fish”(Jn.6:1-13). The next day, when the crowd missed him, they went looking for him. When they found him, he told them: “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
The people asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” He replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
My friend, it is the same answer which the risen Lord is giving us today. If our search for Christ is to believe in him, then since he is the Christ of faith, he can be found right where we are. He is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and truth – just anywhere. On the other hand we may be denominational fanatics, but what matters is the motive behind our zealousness! Say “No to the Food Gospel!”
Prayer: Holy Spirit indwell me so that my search for Christ should be to believe in him and do his bidding. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.