by Bruce Hanson
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11
Back in the 50’s, sitting in front of our tiny black and white television, there was a commercial that seemed to show up constantly: “Wonder Bread builds strong bodies twelve ways.” Now they never told us what any of those twelve ways were, but the implication was that we truly couldn’t live without it. That claim was not especially accurate, but there IS a bread we can’t live without.
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
Living in a nation where I have always had bread to eat, I have never really thought of the bread in the Lord’s Prayer as that which I might consume. That cannot be said for many in the Middle East who are trying to survive on cattle feed. I pray that God’s daily bread could make its way to them. But this is the bread I am especially craving right now.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:1-4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
And I am particularly taken by the use of the descriptor DAILY. Jesus didn’t say weekly, monthly, or yearly bread.
We are living in times that I truly believe to be unrivaled in history. Literally days ago, a candidate in Slovakia lost an election to a candidate of Vladimir Putin after a fake recording was circulated that purported to be him claiming to have rigged the election, and horrors: that he was raising the price of beer. It was his voice, but it wasn’t him. He lost!!
We are beyond blessed to have this.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
This is our bread. The Word of God. It isn’t like that Wonder Bread that we wondered whether or not it was bread. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told that our bread is God-breathed. It is our one trustworthy constant in a world of rampant uncertainty — The Word of God. Never Miss a Meal!!!
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11
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