As we try to understand more clearly these basic ingredients for a healthful Christian life, let’s go to the sixth chapter of John.

Jesus was speaking to the group of people who came searching for Him the morning after the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. They were hoping to see something even more spectacular. But instead of working another miracle, Jesus preached a strange sermon. Even Jesus’ disciples found it difficult, for they said, in John 6:60,

“This is a hard saying; who can hear it?”

But in the understanding of John 6, we can begin to realize what it means to “eat” and “breathe” spiritually. The people asked Jesus a question.

“What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (verse 28).

These people were into salvation by works. What shall we do? It was a behavioral question.

Jesus immediately responded with a relationship answer. He said,

“This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent” (verse 29).

How do we believe, or trust, in Him? Trust is always based on a relationship. You trust the one you know to be trustworthy. If someone is trustworthy, and you get to know him, you will trust him spontaneously. So it is with God. As we come to know Him, we trust Him, and thus receive not only eternal life, but all of the gifts He has to offer.

You may want to read this entire chapter (John 6) for yourself, but let’s notice just a few verses here.

Verse 35:

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Verse 51:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Verses 53-56:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

What do you think when you read such words? Are you ready to join with the disciples in finding them hard to understand? Keep reading! There is a clue in verse 63.

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

So when Jesus talks about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He is talking about His Word. The prophet Jeremiah used the same analogy.

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16; see also Psalm 119:103).

Just as our physical life is sustained, day by day, by the food we eat, so it is with spiritual life. As we study God’s Word each day, our spiritual life is maintained. Because of waste and loss, the body must be renewed, through the blood, by being supplied with daily food. So we must feed upon the Word. That Word must be our meat and drink, if we are to find spiritual nourishment.

How fat would some of us be, physically, if we spent as much time eating as we spend partaking of the Bread of Life? It’s not always easy to set aside time for prayer and study, is it? Some of us have a hard time living on only twenty-four hours a day!

In my library at home is a book someone gave me entitled, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. I think it must be a good book, and am hoping someday to find time to read it! If you’ve been having trouble finding time even to eat your “three squares,” and then you hear about spending time day by day for fellowship and communion with Christ, it could sound impossible.

A resident physician in Los Angeles listened to the reasons about the necessity of spending time in a relationship with Christ in order to have a healthful spiritual life. He worked around the clock in the hospital residency program. It didn’t look as if he had an extra five minutes—much less significant time to spend in seeking to know Jesus for himself. But he decided it was important.

At the end of the first week of deliberately taking time with God—time he thought he didn’t have—he came back to share the results. He was excited. He said, “I can’t explain it. I can’t even understand it. But I not only had time to spend with God each day, but yesterday I found time to wash my car for the first time in months!”

God had blessed his efforts and had given him a greater efficiency, so that he could accomplish everything necessary, and more besides. The promise is still there,

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Setting aside time for God is like setting aside money for God. It is still true that \(9.00 with God's blessing goes further than \)10.00 without His blessing. Have you discovered that yet? And as with your tithe, so it is with your time. Twenty-three hours with God’s blessing goes further than twenty-four hours without His blessing. It’s the same principle.

For a long time I considered a personal relationship with God to be an option in the Christian life. I thought it was reserved for people with white hair and arthritis who were cramming for their finals! I had the idea that the basis of the Christian life was to try hard to be good—and if there was any time left over, it would be nice to read the Bible and pray a little bit—it would make God feel good! Of course, there was seldom any time left over.

Then I discovered that a personal relationship with God is not an option—but rather the entire basis of the Christian life. Christianity is not a set of rules or a creed to live by. It is involvement with a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is not based on behavior—it is based on relationship. When it comes to living the Christian life, it’s not what you do—it’s Who you know.

Yet most professed Christians find no time for Christ—not even five minutes a day. According to surveys, only one out of every four or five church members is spending any time at all, day by day, in seeking to know Christ personally. Why not?

One of the reasons I did not spend time in a personal relationship with Christ, during the earlier years of my life, was that I simply did not think it was that important. We find time for what we think is important, do we not?

The reason why I didn’t think it was that important became obvious to me later. It was because I thought I could be a Christian and get to heaven in some other way than through knowing Jesus. And there is only one other option. If you don’t know Jesus, and you are hoping to be saved in heaven some day, then your hope would have to be based upon your own works, wouldn’t it? So one of the major reasons church members do not find time each day for a relationship with Christ is that they are still operating on the basis of salvation through their own works. No wonder so many find it to be uphill business to serve the Lord.

There may be other factors involved. Just because you eat and breathe doesn’t mean you’re going to be healthy physically. But you’re not going to be if you don’t! Just because you read the Bible and pray doesn’t mean you’ll be healthy spiritually. But you won’t be if you don’t! Take time for Him today—it’s the most important time you can spend.