Have you ever had such a wonderful experience such that you wish it would last forever? Whether it’s a fun vacation of fellowship with your favorite people in a special place somewhere, or a nice, secure, fulfilling job, with a perfect team — each one doing his part and enjoying it. Then, it’s time to go and say goodbye, and the all-too-familiar longing for more.
During the last two months, I was blessed to have an 8-week vacation in the US, and stayed with my two younger brothers, alternating from one brother’s house to another. It’s the first time I visited them there since 25 years ago, and this was my longest vacation break ever since I started working in my 20s. During those 8 weeks, we had great moments together, especially me just being part of their lives. But when it was time to return home, I really wished I didn’t have to. And on board the plane on the way home, I felt such a huge vacuum in my heart, and though I was super thankful for this time with them, how I wished I didn’t have to go and that this would be the way life was from now on. Sana lang.
You know that feeling? The feeling that you don’t want something so good to end. And yet it does; and on this side of heaven, it has to. Question is, where does that feeling come from? That feeling and the desire for good things to last forever.
One of my favorite Christian authors, C.S. Lewis once wrote about this, saying that this feeling, this longing, is not wishful thinking. He says, it’s actually a sign … a sign that we are creatures oriented toward eternity. The good things we experience now are previews — glimpses of what eternal life actually is. This feeling of “I never want this to end” is your soul recognizing our true home. I love it when CS Lewis says, it is a sign that we were made for another world. God created man to have that feeling, that infinite desire, which can never be met by anything in this world, except by Him alone.
And today, we want to reflect on the Bread of Life Discourse, in John 6:51-58, where Jesus meets the crowd in their physical hunger, and they want more of the bread that He multiplied and offered. This is a teaching moment, when Jesus uses their hunger and desire for satisfaction. He talks about the bread that they received (and the manna of their ancestors), but leaves them longing for more. Jesus essentially says: you’re chasing the wrong satisfaction. Not because physical hunger is bad, but because it keeps returning. It never permanently fills you.
In contrast He declares: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)
Look how Jesus uses that word “never”. “Never hunger, never thirst.” Here, my brothers and sisters, is the answer to the very feeling we’re talking about, that longing for something that doesn’t run out.
My friends, I think that whatever longing for more that we feel after we are temporarily and thankfully feeling blessed by our happy experiences and momentary joys, this feeling is some sort of preparation for that one thing that God has prepared that will satisfy us permanently, as in forever. And Jesus offers Himself to you and me now, saying, that we can have that sense of satisfaction and joy even now, through Him, if we receive Him in our hearts.
And though Jesus refers to eternal life, I think that eternal life is not some tiring and exhausting endlessness. But rather it is the fullness of everything you’ve ever loved about being alive, without the loss, the ending, or the goodbyes. And we can experience that even today.
Next time you have some joyful experience that you wish would never end, be thankful for the experience, and be thankful that God has placed this longing in your heart for more. Close your eyes and imagine that Jesus has been there with you sharing that moment, and that even though your friends may say goodbye and each of you would return to your homes, you know that Jesus will always be with you and He will never leave you alone making sure that His joy may be in you and remain in you both now and forever.
Rejoice in the Lord, always, my friends. Rejoice in the Lord.
6 June 2026
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