Give us this day, our daily bread. I am the Bread of Life.
Jesus attends to the basic reality every human faces. We have got to eat. Some of us live in an age where we take that too far. We don’t know when to eat, we don’t know what to eat, and we end up overeating and getting fat. Others, meanwhile, don’t even have the luxury of being able to choose what they eat or when they eat. We can only take what we get and hope that we can get it for us and those we love. Whichever end of the spectrum, we share the same vital need to eat.
I’m grateful for the instruction that eating is not just an individual or personal affair. I’m connected and related to others. It’s not just for me—it’s for us. I’m grateful for the reminder that if I have the opportunity to eat and share with others, I’ve got to do it so we can eat.
That episode of Jesus feeding thousands is a fascinating one. I find it intriguing that there’s enough for everyone to eat with enough left to fill baskets. It says much to me about how He feeds those who are hungry. It’s not the first time we see how God loves to feed those hungry. There’s the situation with the children of Israel as they leave Egypt and their grumbling about lack of food and drink and that lack of trust in God still being responded to in acts of generous provision.
It's great to know that God will feed us what we need to thrive. It’s good to know that this is not just about the bread physically required. We need to be fed the truth daily. We need to be fed wisdom daily. We need to be fed patience daily. Our access to the Living Bread means we consume these essential daily qualities and much more. Feeding on the Living Bread releases us to share this bread with others.
This is the bread we need because we have got to eat.
For His Name's Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
