My Soul Loatheth Fodder
Today, many churches are turning to entertainment and food in order to get people to come to church. That is like feeding a cow fodder instead of corn. One couple told me that On nights when a certain Baptist Church had its refreshment center open for the young people, they could hardly find a pew; however, on other nights when the center was closed, most of the pews were empty. Baptist are not unique in this.
Gone are the days when men sought refreshment for the soul, but crowds can be drawn by offering other morsels. Does this mean that we should change the kind of table we set, or does it mean that we should continue to seek those honest few (Matt. 7:13- 14) who are thirsting for nourishment for the soul?
Jesus fed a multitude with five loaves and two fish (Jn. 6: 1-13). He did not feed them to entice them to come to listen to him teach, but rather as a sign of his divine power. After seeing the miracle, they said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world, (v. 14). The next day the crowd sought him again, but they sought him because their stomachs had been filled, not because they hungered for righteousness. When he began to dish-out the true manna, they began to murmur and turned back from walking with him. They could not stomach a diet intended to nourish their souls. It is refreshing to notice that Jesus did not change the menu to draw the crowds. If they wanted to eat from his hand, they had to hunger for the true and enduring grain. A woman gave our Lord a cool drink and he, in turn, offered her living water that could quench her thirst forever (Jn. 4:142). She did not understand what he offered, but when he told her all things which she had ever done, she went to the city to tell others of the Christ. Many from the city came to see Jesus. They sought, not a fountain of youth, but the real, living water which alone could satisfy their souls need for life.
Jesus said to his disciples, I have meat to eat that ye know not of, and he explained by saying My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and finish his work, (vv. 32, 34). He says to us. Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, (Jn. 6:27). The wise man said, Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man, (Eccl. 12:13). Fodder does not really satisfy anyway — All is vanity and a striving after wind, (Eccl. 1:14).
After eleven years, Margaret has become a good cook. She prepares a variety of nourishing food. She could not entice my salivary glands with fodder, nor would she try, because she knows my stomachs needs — and my soul loatheth fodder. Our Lord always fed men what their souls needed. If we, in order to draw crowds, substitute light bread for heavenly manna, we satisfy the body but put no meat on spiritual bones. Instead, we should seek those whose souls loath fodder and hunger for truth. —&mdashverett.