The Birdseed of Heaven

Location: My Bird Feeder
John 6:25-60 (NIV)

 "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" (John 6:35, NIV).

One of the best things I did in quarantine was buy a bird feeder. Talk about entertainment game changer. I can’t tell you how many mornings I sit and just watch my bird feeder now. 

When we first put the feeder outside, no birds came. We were bummed, we didn’t know if we did something wrong. But eventually, one bird was brave enough to try it, then that bird gathered its friends and then, sure enough, it seems like all the birds in the neighborhood come to our back porch now. 

Watching the birds is interesting. Some birds eat the seed but it’s too much for them so half of it falls on the ground for other birds to eat. And the birds come eat in different ways. One bird stands what we would call “normally” on the perch and puts its beak in the hole, while another bird—my favorite one—stands upside down to eat with its butt in the air and beak in the feeder. And what’s also interesting is that all the birds seem to get along on the feeder even though they’re all different shapes, sizes, and colors, From bright red and yellow to brown, gray and blue, it doesn’t seem like there’s competition for the birds to get the food because they know there’s plenty—we always fill it back up when it gets empty. 

And we’ve found that not only do birds like the bird seed, so do squirrels and flies. So, we have quite the animal fest on our back deck. 

Watching these birds come to the bird feeder reminds me of when Jesus said to the crowd, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, NIV) and “I am the living bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:51, NIV). God is the source of life and, like the birdseed, when we feed on God—through reading God’s word, spending time with the Holy Spirit, partaking in communion—we have life. And like my bird feeder, there’s plenty for everyone. In fact, there’s such an abundance of life that we aren’t able to hold it all in, it overflows so others can feed off of it too. 

Like my birds don't really understand all the intricacies of where this birdseed came from but still eat from it anyway, Jesus as the bread of life often still remains a mystery with us. We don’t understand all the intricacies of God’s being, because, it’s far too vast to know, but we do know that this bread of life sustains us. It sustains us with courage when we feel afraid, it sustains us with hope when we’re close to despair, it sustains us with belonging when we feel lonely, it sustains us with eternal life so that we don’t have to face eternal death. And because we’re so grateful for this sustenance, we can’t help but tell others where they can find this sustenance too. And when people feed from the source, like some of the birds on my deck feed upside down, it might look different than how I do it. But regardless, we are getting our life from the same source.

It sustains us with courage when we feel afraid, hope when we’re close to despair, belonging when we feel lonely, and eternal life so that we don’t have to face eternal death.

And there’s food for everybody. We don’t have to fight over who gets it first or what you’re supposed to look like and act like to get it, the bread of life is always full and is open to anyone and everyone who wants to come to it. 

Let's pray: Bread of Heaven, thank you for giving us sustenance for this life today and for our eternal life to come. Amen. 

Reflect: What does feeding on God mean to you in your daily life? What aspect of the bird feeder resonates with you and why? (I.e. The diversity of creatures, the different ways the birds feed from the source, not knowing all the intricacies of God....etc.)

Work Consulted
O'day, Gail R. "John" in The New Interpreters Bible Commentary Volume VIII, general editor Leader E. Keck. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.