Light, Bread, and How We Are Fed

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

- Jesus, John 8:12 and John 6:35

Warning: Mixed metaphors ahead.

So, this past summer, we had frogs at our house. Not the kind that make a lot of noise, but tree frogs. Lots of them. Almost in biblical-plague-like numbers. Ah, but I exaggerate. Still, we had lots of frogs.

They kept appearing at night on our front porch. I would see them through our glass door. They perched on our mailbox. They clung to the bricks. They rested on our porch light. It was both cool and creepy at the same time.

This went on every night, for weeks. Only with the cooler weather have the frogs finally gone away.

One night I stayed out on the front porch for a few minutes to watch the frogs. They were as still as statues, mostly looking at the porch light. Small moths, gnats, and other night bugs were also flying around, attracted by the light. Suddenly, one of the frogs stretched its neck, opened its mouth, and gulped down a hapless moth that had just wandered into the no-fly zone. It happened in the blink of an eye.

It turns out that the light had become the feeding spot for the frogs. The frogs came to the light to be fed.

It got me to thinking: Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is the bread of life. When we come to Jesus, we are fed for eternal life.

I told you that I was mixing my metaphors. Don't say I didn't warn you.

But really, where do you turn to nourish your soul? We are bombarded by all sorts of things that pollute and corrupt the unwitting soul every time we turn on the TV or surf the web. What do you do to provide healthy nourishment for your soul?

I think we should take a lesson from the frogs. Go to the light – to Jesus, the Light of the world. If we spend enough time in his light, we will be fed.

P.S. Don't take this metaphor too far. Because it doesn't work if you are a moth or an insect – they got eaten at the light. Focus on the frogs.