Daily Bread
A few years ago a friend of mine, who is a master baker, invited me and my daughter to come into the back of the bakery where all of the magic happens. We got to see the behind the scenes process of baking and also, he had some sweet baking treats for Aria to decorate. Seeing the process, watching the master work, knowing more of what went into that pastry or bread that I was eating, gave me more of a deeper appreciation for the baking, and even more so, for the baker. While we were there we had the opportunity to try a couple pastries that were freshly made. What an amazing thing to eat something at its freshest, most optimal level. I would have loved to have gone back each day after that to have enjoyed that fresh baking daily.
‘Give us this day our daily bread” ~ JESUS
The prayer model that Jesus teaches his disciples in the gospels is not simply a guide to prayer but an invitation to deeper relational intimacy with God His Father. When Jesus refers to daily bread, he is speaking of prayer being like one of the most basic human needs, the need for sustenance. And he does so with the most humble of meals… bread.
The imagery of food and the invitation to eat and dine with God is a theme that is present throughout the entirety of the Bible. Come buy food that you cannot afford (Isaiah 55:1-2). I(Jesus) stand at the door and knock and if anyone will invite me in I will come and dine with them (Rev. 3:20). And He (the Lord God) prepares a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies, and invites us to sit and stay with Him (Psalm 23:5-6). Even Jesus regularly would connect with people over bread. His final meal with His disciples included bread and cup (Matthew 26:26), He broke break and fish and fed 4000+ people (Matthew 15:29-39) and 5000+ people (Matthew 14:13-21), and He was challenged by the enemy to turn stones into bread to feed Himself when he was hungry after fasting for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-4). Jesus even referred to himself as the Bread of Life, and that in Him there was a different kind of nourishment and satisfaction to be had.
“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”(John 6:35)
At times the imagery of needing to get daily bread can feel a bit redundant, that each day you have to return to get bread. The bulk pack, wholesale culture has make it possible to always have three loaves on hand in the freezer which can serve to belay the need for daily bread.
This is such a Western issue. An issue that perhaps, at times, has robbed us of an understanding of what need looks like.
However, in many cultures around the world, needing to purchase daily bread is not a foreign idea… it is a reality. In some circumstances, bread is only able to be kept for a day or two. It is something that is made on a regular basis and you purchase what you need for that day.
What if God is not creating a required task to be accomplished, but rather, He is providing an opportunity for regular connection? This shift in understanding reframes this from requirement “for” relationship to an invitation “to” relationship.
For the Israelites in the desert following the exodus from Egypt, the idea of daily bread became a lived reality. The concept that they needed to come to the Provider for bread (manna), and to do so daily was a tangible reminder of their need for His nourishment both physically and spiritually. No bread = no life. No daily bread provided in the very presence of God meant that they went hungry and lived in lack.
Some may feel like God was exerting His power and control over the Israelites, and was showing them that He was God by making them have to get fresh food from Him every day. But it couldn’t be more the opposite. God was showing the people that they actually needed His presence, His sustaining, life giving presence. His very life in and for them. This is a foreshadowing to the prayer that Jesus offers that God would give us our daily bread, and that in His presence there is a satisfying fullness and nourishment for us in our lives. God has fresh life for us to be enjoyed with Him each day.
My Mom made the most amazing buns and bread, when I was growing up. Even today when I smell really good fresh bread it transports me back in time to my childhood and the luxury of eating homemade fresh bread. There’s something to be said about having fresh baked bread. Not bread that’s been in a bag or in the freezer or put away for a while, but bread fresh out of the oven. Warm bread. The only way you really get this kind of bread is to get it when it comes fresh from the oven and you are postured and positioned to receive it. In order to do this, we need to be where the baker is actively baking bread.
The bread that is being offered by Jesus is not just fresh bread to sustain the physical body, but more importantly than that, there is an open invitation to come and have a fresh encounter with God daily.
It’s an invitation to sit in the very presence of the one who makes the bread, not just offers the bread. It’s never just about the bread. It never has been. It’s about the Baker. The invitation of Jesus is to sit with the very one who makes the bread and offers the nourishing life that it gives. You can eat bread and be hungry again or you can go to the source, the Great Baker and be with Him and encounter Him, to eat of Him and receive the promise that He will satisfy your spiritual hunger and meet your needs.
He knows what you need even before you ask and if we are most honest, even before we know what we want ourselves.
This is the God who knows you full well and invites you to come and sit with Him and dine with Him. The picture of dining is such a common theme throughout the Bible because there’s something about the intimacy and fellowship of a meal that is not able to be found in any other setting. Jesus is our daily bread. In the Lord’s prayer Jesus is reminding us that we need to come and find our life and fulness in His presence. What a beautiful gift to not only have a need, but to be connected to the One who can meet that great need and longs to do so for each one who will respond to His invitation.
The gift of daily bread is an invitation to come to the Baker, to know Him and to first hand discover daily what His bread is like and how incredibly good He is each day! God is inviting us to come each day and taste and see that He is Good!
