Bread and Circuses

Juvenal is best known for brilliant satires which dealt with life in the Roman Empire. But beyond being merely satires, they were filled with perceptive observations about life at that time.

Born around 55 AD, Juvenal is perhaps most famous for his comment that “people long eagerly for just two things—bread and circuses.” He realized that, too often, people were willing to endure and even ignore corruption, injustice, and problems, as long as they were distracted by games and amusements, and as long as they had plenty of food to eat.

We see these same principles in the world today. Many people spend their lives focused on various escapes—television and movies, sports and games, friends and fun, the Internet and texting, fantasies and hobbies.

But all of these forms of “bread and circuses” can distract them from facing the reality of their own lives and make them blind to their need for God.

Many are so preoccupied with escapes that they rarely think about the things of God. This even can happen to Believers. But eventually, like the writer of Ecclesiastes, all of us will realize that these distractions are “like chasing the wind.”

In your life, ask God to show you if you are allowing the “bread and circuses” of life to distract you from serving Him. Don’t let the world, or its escapes, keep a grip on your heart and mind. Surrender your life anew to God. Make it your priority to seek first His Kingdom.