(John 6:35) I am the bread of life!

After being delivered from Egypt, the people of Israel found themselves in the wilderness on a long journey to the Promised Land. Apparently, the heat got to them, because they began to complain that they had plenty of food back in Egypt as slaves, but now as free people they were hungry.

So, God told them that each day he would send bread (manna) from heaven for them to eat. However, he told them that they could only collect the bread they needed for each day, no more. If they collected more bread than their daily needs, the extra bread would rot.

In this way, Israel had to be dependent on God for their daily food.

They had to truly depend on God as their provider everyday.

This Old Testament story in Exodus 16 is the background to the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us our daily bread” (see Matthew 6:11).

Most of us have a very hard time asking God to just provide what we need for each day only. To trust God for one day at a time just seems way too risky. After all, we are modern sophisticated people.

This focus on trusting God to provide for us one day at a time, does not mean that we can’t plan ahead or have a saving account. However, I do believe that this should be our primary focus and prayer: “Lord, give us our daily bread.”

It is with the context of the Exodus “bread from heaven” story and the Lord’s Prayer phase, “Give us our daily bread,” that we discover the ultimate fulfillment of God’s provision, who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

In John 6:32-35, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth: It is not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For God’s bread is the one who has come from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said, “Sir, give us this bread forever!” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life! Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Millions of Christians around the world are poor and must trust God everyday just to eat. I do not say this to spread shame, I share it because we need perspective living in the West.

In the end, all of God’s provision for our lives is found in Jesus Christ; he is all we need. He is full of all the spiritual treasures of God. We do not need to look anywhere else.

Jesus Christ is our daily bread for each new day! Every day, Jesus will provide all we need. When we mature spiritually, we do not re-live the old of yesterday, but we embrace the truth that God’s ways are new every morning.

Can you live at peace, and trust God for his daily provision in Jesus Christ?

Are you focused on experiencing God’s new grace every day, or are you stuck in the old of yesterday? 

Jesus is our daily bread of life!