Saturday, 16 August 2008

• Daily Bread

  
  "Give us this day our daily bread." - Matthew 6:11 (NKJV)

  What exactly is our "daily bread"? It goes beyond the simple food that we need to survive, although that is also included in what Jesus is speaking of here. We are to ask for our needs on a daily basis. The thing that intrigues me is how many different needs "bread" may be referring to.

  The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that Jesus speaks of the "bread of life" in other verses, which links it strongly to spiritual needs as well as physical needs.

  Here are some of the strongest examples:

  "But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”" - Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

  "Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." - John 6:30-35 (NKJV)

  "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”" - John 6:51 (NKJV)

  "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”" - Luke 22:19 (NKJV)

  In the above verses Jesus repeatedly refers to Himself as living bread, expressing that this kind of bread is what is necessary for eternal life. We are to eat of this living bread with the same hunger that we have for physical food. It is actually more important because our earthly bread only fills us temporarily and does not effect our eternal status or any other aspect of our lives. Sure, we may enjoy a particular food and it brings us happiness to eat it, but how much more can heavenly bread give us! By eating of the living bread we can satisfy our souls by means of peace, joy, happiness, and all the other blessings that spring forth from God towards us when we partake in Him.

  Another aspect that we can look at from Jesus' simple prayer is how important the principle of "daily" is. Sure, we ask for this on a daily basis which implies we are to pray regularly, but it goes much deeper than that. It means that we need this bread daily, that it is so important that we must ask God to continually give us it. That is obvious in the case of food, but when it comes to spiritual bread we can become too lax. Maybe we have had a good day and feel no real hunger to spend much time with God that day, to eat of that bread. Maybe we are simply tired after a day of toil and stress, and just want to go relax or fall asleep -- taking our minds off of life in total. Yet Jesus so clearly states that it should be at the front of our minds, that we should ask God to give us this gift and eat of it daily, making sure we do not allow ourselves to become malnourished and unhealthy both in mind and spirit. Just as a small snack can so often give us that burst of energy we so needed to get those extra chores done in the day, a few minutes of communion and study of God's Word can give us a much needed spiritual and emotional boost.

  Which leads us to the question of how exactly we can eat of the living bread, since Jesus explained that it is His flesh. For this answer we need to turn only to John 1:1-18. Although I would suggest reading all of the verses, I will point out the one that most clearly goes with my point: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14 (NKJV). This verse is speaking of the Word, which John makes clear "became flesh" in the form of Jesus our Christ. With this in mind, we can now look back to our previous verses that speak of eating of this flesh and see that studying God's Word would be a way of doing so.

  To sum it all up: Jesus is the Word and the bread of life. We are to pray for our bread daily, by Jesus' own words, and this bread can mean much more than simply food for our mortal lives.

  To take this even farther, what else do you believe the bread that we are to ask for could be referring to? I think it's quite a beneficial activity to sit down and make a list of all of the daily necessities that you require from God, or maybe things you hadn't even thought of relying on God for -- keeping in mind that we do nothing of ourselves, and all good things come from Him. I'd suggest that you make your own list, but I'll share mine to get you thinking (in no real order of importance, just as they come to mind).

  My Daily Bread from God:

  • Strength - For every trial and task I face
  • Courage - To not cower from Satan's trials
  • Mercy - Both from the Lord towards my fallen state and that I may show His mercy to others
  • Guidance - To do His Will, not mine
  • Understanding of others - Which goes with love and compassion, rather than anger and judging
  • His love - My life source is His love
  • Forgiveness - Speaks for itself
  • Inspiration - That I may know Him better
  • Patience - Both for events in my life and in my encounters with others
  • My necessities of life - food, water, shelter, clothes, etc.

  Just a final thought: Don't forget to thank Him for all of these things you ask, and those that He gives without asking on a daily basis also. That, I think, is more important than asking in the first place. Almost as much as making sure to ask for those things to be granted to your brothers and sisters in Christ as well, which is quite clear since Jesus says "us" not "my" in the prayer.

  Blessings, Love, and may your prayers be answered,
  Sarah

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