Hennie Symington

“Come, everyone who is thirsty –

    Here is water!

Come, you who have no money 0

    Buy corn and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk –

    And it will cost you nothing! Isaiah 55:1

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty ... “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink.” John 6:35; 54-55

Let’s face it – women love shopping – and some guys too! What’s more exciting than going on a shopping spree especially during the holiday season to satisfy your urge to spend? I have a friend with a sticker on her car that says: Born to shop! And if there’s one thing that the female of the species cannot resist, it’s a “bargain”. They’ve got the art of sale-maths down to a tee. It’s not how much you spent on that item that counts, but how much you saved on something you don’t need. (Have you counted the number of useless gadgets in your cupboards recently?)

What if they announced on the PA system in the store that all the items on sale are free? Pandemonium! Imagine men, women and children leaving the store with loads and loads of stuff. And coming back for more until there’s no more space in the cupboards or house for another item of clothing. And then you will still regret what you couldn’t take. That insatiable hunger for more simply does not disappear.

In Isaiah we also read about an irresistible bargain. He talks about a special offer that no-one has ever been able to beat. It is an invitation to all those who thirst and hunger in a barren desert to come and buy bread and water. And not only water but milk and wine also. And the cost? Nothing. Mahala! All paid for. And what’s more, the bread he speaks of here is bread that feeds the soul.

This offer is not a once off. It is repeated in the New Testament. We can get bread for free. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” Jesus says in John 6:51. If we eat of this bread, we will never hunger again. When we partake of the body of Christ as we do during Holy Communion, our hunger is stilled. With all the holiday celebrations up ahead, we are bound to overdo it and are sure to regret it afterwards. But the bread of life which feeds us “until we want (need) no more” is an offer no prophet in the marketplace can beat.

Prayer: Lord, why do we persist in striving for bigger and better when we the ultimate bread is there for the taking? We thank you for the bread of heaven given freely by you to all who need or seek it. Amen