Daily Bread

Good morning,

We continue on into The Lord's Prayer with the next phrase/petition:

"Give us this day, our daily bread."

Matthew 6:11

After the portion of the prayer that aligns our will with that of our Heavenly Father, we are then allowed to ask for Him to meet our needs.  The first one is, on the surface, representative of our physical needs.

Obviously, we need more than bread.  We need clean water, clothing, shelter and basic resources. However, "bread" is representative of basic, physical needs.  In that day, the bread consumed was freshly made, with non-GMO wheat or other grain, with all-fresh ingredients, with no added gluten, and it was healthful.  In fact, it was the most fundamental food of all.  This is why I am unable to agree with folks today who argue that "all wheat is bad".  Non-GMO wheat is most certainly NOT bad for most humans.  There are a very small few who truly have a gluten allergy.  The rest of us eat bread products which, although tasty, have become so terribly perverted our bodies react to them in a negative manner.  Well, enough about that.

In comparing Himself to the manna that God provided in the wilderness for the Hebrew people (Exodus 16) Jesus called Himself  (John 6:32, 58) "the true bread from Heaven".  Therefore, there is a double-meaning in this prayer for daily, physical sustenance.  Having our physical needs is not enough.

This morning, I slept uncharacteristically late and was very tired upon arising.  (I taught a lengthy class last night and ate a late dinner.  I guess that was the cause.)  One of the first places I went after awakening was the kitchen to get some "physical sustenance".  Our bodies let us know when we need it, don't they?

Our souls need regular, daily sustenance also, in order to be healthy.  As Father provides for us physical "bread", He also provides through the Person of His Son and Holy Spirit spiritual bread.

In John 6, Jesus had just fed over 5000 people by miraculously multiplying 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish, humbly donated by a young boy.  The people were so excited over this miracle they were ready to crown Him as their king, right then and there.  Their attitude was somewhat analogous to people today who get so excited over a politician who will give them "free stuff".  Jesus even escaped to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Capernaum) to distract them.  However, they followed Him! The lure for free goods is great.... They were making that miraculous bread their "gospel".  They didn't care if Jesus took away their sins.  They merely wanted Him to meet their needs.

In Capernaum, then, Jesus began to reveal to them, in a rather cryptic yet graphic fashion, who He was/is.  See John 6:26-55.  Most of the crowd did not understand such bizarre statements and, predictably, began to leave, shaking their heads in amazement.

In The Lord's Supper, Jesus gave a visible demonstration of the meaning behind these bizarre statements.  The ingestion of the little piece of bread and the sip of juice/wine symbolize our taking Jesus into our souls as Savior.  We commemorate that decision we made, every time we "take communion" (eat The Lord's Supper).  It is like...celebrating our spiritual anniversary!

Jesus Himself is our daily bread.  He is the true bread, and all the fulness of the Trinity abides in Him (Colossians 1:19; 2:9).  We need to feast on Him daily. This is why I routinely eat from His Word and break bread with you in this blog.  His words are Spirit and they are Life!  In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said,

"Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

Jon Bloom says, "He {Christ} did not come to save us from starvation, but from damnation."1
Do we feed our bodies and not our Spirits?  Or, rather, do we feed our Spirits "junk food"?  Don't be fooled....you ARE feeding your soul something.  

Lord Jesus, please give us our daily portion of Yourself, so that we may grow spiritually, as well as physically. Teach us to pray, to seek Your face in everything, to "pray without ceasing".  Thank you for providing just what we need, when we need it, and through Your provision teaching us to trust in You for all things.  In Jesus name, amen.

Source:
1 http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/don-t-miss-the-true-bread