Wednesday, October 13, 2010

R.E.A.L. Women Devotional - Pass the Bread


It seems that bread is a common part of every meal. In today's diet fads, bread is the first thing to go. The problem for me is, I love my bread! I was always thankful that on the food pyramid it ranked on the bottom which meant, more bread was good.

This week as we read in the book of John, Jesus was talking about bread. John 6:27-33, 35, 47-58 says, "
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?'29 Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.' 32 Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'

47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."


Jesus clearly states that he is the bread from Heaven. It sounds a bit cannibalistic to be talking about eating flesh and drinking blood. This could be a problem for some people who don't know Jesus. Jesus is talking spiritually speaking.

It would seem that today in our Christian culture that we are on a spiritual Atkins diet. What's interesting is that doctors are finding the Atkins diet to be unhealthy for the heart because people binge on bacon and red meat. If we start cutting Jesus out of our daily life, we become heart disease victims. What I mean by that is that we stop focusing on forgiveness through Jesus and our spiritual arteries become clogged with the plaque of anger, bitterness, and most of all, unforgiveness. Jesus was very direct when he said he was the bread of life. He did not use a parable to explain this. He just came out and said it, twice!

In Jesus prayer that he was teaching his disciples to pray, he says "give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (paraphrased from Matthew 6:12) . I find it very interesting that daily bread and sin, temptation and evil fall in line behind the request for daily bread. That is ultimately what Jesus came to do. To be the bread of life that absorbs the sin and death that we deserve. I guess the question for today is, have you had your bread today? Don't deny yourself the bread of life. Instead, say "Pass the bread!"