More Bread Please
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I love how Jesus caps many of his teachings with “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.” He spoke these words of invitation roughly 7 times in the Gospels and 7 more times in the book of Revelation. These life changing — heart checking — words spoken by our Shepherd are like bread crumbs on the path which leads us closer to Him. Bread crumbs from THE Bread of Life, a title Jesus used to describe himself in John 6:35.
I bake bread…and while I technically live with one man and two growing boys…when it comes to food consumption I feel like horses at a trough provides a more accurate picture. So I don’t just bake bread, I bake a lot of bread which means I am well acquainted with the process — the ingredients — the timing — the textures — and best of all…the taste. I know what good healthy bread should be like because I spend a great deal of my time with it.
My boys love my bread and I am thankful they do because I know when they are having what appears to be a simple slice of toast to them, it is actually a freshly milled, nutrient dense, hearty slice of heaven which blesses their bodies with every bite. But if you were to place a slice of my homemade toast on a plate next to a burger from their favorite fast food spot…which do you think they will go for first?
Do my sons understand how good my bread is for them? Do they realize the lack of quality that sandwiches their burger? Of course not and to be clear I don’t fault them for this because I too was once a child and I wanted to enjoy the quick, savory, fun, easy option…and to be completely honest…even as an adult I sometimes choose this way still. But I’ve learned time and time again, that after the savoriness has paid its short visit and departed from our tastebuds, our bodies are left with very little to gain from the quick, easy, fun option we chose to provide it with…so we hunger for more and are thus faced with the same predicament:
Do we reach for what will last or what is fast?
If I want for my body to have bread that will fill it with good, lasting, rich nutrients…then I must be diligent and willing to spend time in the process of baking. Likewise, if I want for my soul to be filled with what is good, lasting and rich…then I must be diligent to spend time with, trust in, and reach for the Bread of Life himself.
The enemy knows what the Bread of Life can do for one’s well being and so in his craftiness he fills this world with flashy, fast, pacifying, fun options to distract us from reaching for what we need and leaving us craving for more of what this world has to offer, hoping that this time - no maybe this time - wait maybe this time will finally fill the emptiness within.
Jesus has left us bread crumbs tucked safely within God’s word, bread crumbs from the finest ingredients with the richest of nutrients. The enemy sees this, and so he too bakes a loaf but with a different recipe containing lesser quality but just enough to make it mimic the texture of what Jesus has left behind for us. He then scatters the breadcrumbs along a path similar to how Jesus carefully laid each piece of His own. The two sets of bread crumbs are similar in appearance and enticing to the heart, but the paths they lie on do not lead to the same place… and there is only one way to the Father. We know as believers that Jesus is the way, Jesus is the Bread of Life who broke his own body so that we might be able to know this one way. The enemy is aware and while he couldn’t stop Jesus from making a way for our souls to find…he will try to lure us away from the path God intended for us.
Darkness tries to mimic goodness just enough to get our feet moving in a different direction. How do I know this? For one thing, it’s exactly what satan tried with Jesus. In both Matthew 4 and Luke 4 the enemy tries to tempt Jesus three times and he quotes scripture during the second encounter. Jesus of course didn’t pop that bread crumb into his mouth…no he was well versed in his own Father’s word for he himself is not only the Bread of Life but also the Word made Flesh as declared in the book of John:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Jesus was not shaken for he knew the ways of his Father in heaven. Jesus is the Word made Flesh, the Son of God, the Light of the World but even he would break away often and spend time alone with his Father in prayer as stated in Luke 5:16. Jesus spent time alone with God and that is a righteous bread crumb I hope you will take in. Jesus didn’t wait to sit with God when times were hard or only when things became uncomfortable. Jesus sat with God because he longed to be in the presence of his good Father.
If we are diligent to read the word of God and then sit with Him daily, hourly, minutely…then we will know which bread crumbs came from our sweet Savior without even having to taste test and then the enemy will have a far more difficult time fooling us with his fast-fun-food.
If I may be able to to encourage you, do not simply download an app that feeds you a single line from a verse in the Bible — I believe this is a common form of mimicking goodness — but instead make it a daily practice to open up your Bible and read a chapter. When the enemy quoted scripture to Jesus, he pulled part of a reference…Jesus then reminded him of what he left out. But if we are relying on single lines of scripture, we may be taking in the bread crumbs that lead us subtly away from spending time in the word with our Father.
I hope that you will ponder the following questions, write it down if you must…
What areas of your life are you satisfying with cheap crumbs?
Are these crumbs leading you closer to Jesus or subtly away from him?
If you are struggling to answer these questions please consider these crumbs from the Bread of Life to get you back on the path he intended for you:
The Greatest Commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).
Prioritize the Kingdom: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
Serve Others: "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
Abide in Him: "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me" (John 15:5).
Follow His Light: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).
The Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).
Love Your Enemies: Pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
May these nutrient rich crumbs lead you to the table where you can then find the full chapters they are tucked within. Remember, as you journey along this righteous path he set before you, there will emanate from your being a pleasing aroma like that of freshly milled, beautifully baked bread. Some around you may desire to be near and take it in. They may not be able to fully understand why they want to be near, but like Mary who treasured up in her heart what was happening around her (Luke 2:19) you will know that it is the Bread of Life they are craving and He has entrusted you to help them find the righteous crumbs.
