Daily Bread

There are several references to bread in the Bible. Two of the more familiar deal with sustaining life. While in the wilderness, Jesus is no doubt hungry. The devil suggests that he turn stones into bread--a rather extreme but perhaps practical proposition given that he is the Son of God and would apparently have this kind of power at his disposal. But Jesus' responds, "One does not live by bread alone..." What follows are the words "but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

What exactly is the word that comes from the mouth of God? Is it the Bible? Is it the Spirit that blows upon the faceless void and creates life? Is it the narration of a Great Storyteller? Whatever it is, it would appear that our lives are indeed dependent upon it.

Another common reference to bread comes to us from the Lord's Prayer...Give us this day our daily bread... In light of the story above (Jesus' temptation), the reference to daily bread seems to be twofold. First, it refers to God's sustaining word in our lives. And second, it seems to be a request for food or whatever it is that we need to keep going.

I appreciate that Jesus invites us to ask for the things that we need. Although we may not necessarily know what it is that we need, I like the fact that we seem to have a Lord who wants us to have this.

According to Jesus, our lives are especially dependent upon the word of God. In addition to the more familiar ways in which the Word comes to us (Scripture and Christian Conversation), I suspect that God reaches us in other ways as well. For example, there are times that music has literally breathed life into what has become a very dry spirit within me. Walking in the woods, smelling fresh air, seeing an old friend... I suspect that God not only makes do but indeed enjoys lifting our lives in ways beyond what we put into our mouths.