More than one kind of bread…

Many people know the Lord’s prayer yet how many realize what kinds of bread we need to ask for when we say, “Give us this day our daily bread”? (Matthew 6:11) Two are likely, and maybe a third (slang for money) but that one is not likely what Jesus had in mind!

Only those who live in poverty concentrate on literal bread. I’ve seen people living on the street and cooking their meager rations in an old paint can with hot charcoal in the bottom. Our city has hundreds of homeless people, but also shelters where they can go and get a meal. Me and most of the people I know seldom pray for bread other than thanking God for the abundance of food that we do have.
The other ‘bread’ is a different nourishment. When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, the first trial was hunger…

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:3–4)

Jesus linked physical food with spiritual food. He’d gone several weeks without food and was obviously hungry, indicating that our greatest temptations can also be linked to our greatest felt needs. But Jesus didn’t go for it. I can’t turn stones into food yet He could, and it seems that my temptations are also related to things I could do myself without God’s direction or help, as well as to my deepest desires. That aside, Jesus wants me to ask Him for spiritual nourishment.

Job was born long before Jesus set the example of resisting temptation, but he had his priorities sorted out also. He needed physical food, but knew the value of spiritual food. He said:

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. (Job 23:12)

Solomon also had it figured out. He was not interested in lies or being a rich man even though he was wealthy. All he wanted from God was what he needed:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me. (Proverbs 30:8)

The psalmists had the same love for spiritual food. They wrote: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103) and when I read the psalms I often experience that same sweetness. This past week, I decided to stop eating desserts and things with sugar — and am amazed that I don’t miss it. So far, the Word of God has blessed me far more than the chocolate bars, cakes, cinnamon buns, and other sweet items have not even tempted me. Praise God for that.

This brings me to a greater realization of one more thing Jesus said about food. At one point His disciples urged Him to eat and He said to them;

“I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:32–34)

I understand that doing what God says is vital to spiritual growth. If I don’t obey, I stop growing. Jesus said by obeying, it was like food. The words that come to mind are: tasty, nourishing, part of communion and fellowship with others, even a reminder of Jesus’ death in eating bread and tasting wine. If I eat well physically, I am healthy. If I eat well spiritually, the life of Christ in me is nourished too, even more palatable to others. It also keeps my focus on Him, the Bread of Life.

PRAY: God, even in ordinary food, Your truth is illustrated. The only difference is that too much of the bread of life does not add the pounds that too much physical bread can do… yet both kinds of bread need exercise to do the most good in my life and the lives of those whom You ask me to share Your bread. Keep me alert to my own hunger and the hunger of those around me.

Water and Bread

 

The word “water” appears hundreds of times in the Bible. In last night’s group study, we looked at some of them and saw how its unique physical properties symbolize the wonder of God’s salvation. That study and the topic today use the ordinary stuff of life to bring out His goodness and His purposes, first water and now bread. The first major instance in the OT is:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

The OT story of God’s people in their wilderness journey from slavery in Egypt to the land He promised includes supplying manna for their food. It was an object lesson. Like water, bread (or food) is important to life, yet God is the supply. He wanted His people to realize their need for Him was like their need for food and drink. Without both, we will not survive. As Jesus said, He is the Bread of life. (John 6:35)

In other passages, water is compared to the life of God given to and flowing out from believers. This water of life springs from the Word of God, first declared and powerful, then to bring everlasting life to sinners:  

He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. (Psalm 147:15–19)

You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

These verses declare that just as God uses natural elements like water and bread to accomplish His purposes, He also sends His Word to do the same. And His Word is powerful and productive:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10–11)

Jesus quoted Deuteronomy to answer the temptation of Satan to turn stones into bread. Instead of performing a miracle to satisfy His own hunger, He said:

It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

As vital as bread (and water) are to our physical well-being, the Word of God supplies spiritual sustenance as it brings conviction of sin, sinners to repentance, encourages God’s people, reveals spiritual truth, gives us a weapon against Satan’s lies, and blesses us in many other ways. Feeding on it transforms our lives.

PRAY: Jesus, I can trust what You say, live in nourished confidence, and be motivated and enabled to do what You tell me. I can also tell others so they can feed on the truth and be spiritually nourished, growing in their faith. You said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34) indicating that nourishment comes from knowing and doing Your will and that means feasting on it, desiring it like a baby desires milk and like a hungry person desires food or a parched soul craves water. You know that I make and love bread, having some for almost every meal. May my hunger for Your Word be like that — a necessity and not a luxury or a snack but my very life.

PONDER: List the promises in John 14:1–14 and meditate on their significance as something greatly to be desired and greatly needed.