Day Old Bread

There is a picture of me as a very small child, sitting in our front yard with only a well worn pair of tidy whities on. Though I am sitting and looking calm, my hair-going this way and that-depicts my true childhood nature. My little legs baring the marks of adventurous days roaming Cullen St., well at least our end of it.

I'm certain there were few things in those days that could cause me to pause and be still. Perhaps that is what prompted my mom to take the picture; we didn't take many photos back then. However, there I sit, in a moment of sweet pleasure as my chubby cherub hand stuffs a piece of bread in my mouth. I am in "Wonder bread" heaven; with my lips pursed and my cheeks full of dough.

The secret to taming me in those days was a soft, fresh smelling piece of bread. Plain, with butter, topped with peanut butter and jelly, it was all good. Mm mm. Sometimes, I would make a bread ball. I proudly claimed it as my own recipe. Take two pieces of FRESH bread, nibble off the crust, then mash one piece into a small ball, wrap the second piece over the first and squeeze it into a larger ball, then take a bite. The first bite was always the best! I loved the feel of my teeth cutting through the dense, doughy sphere. Who needed chocolate when there was bread!

When I was five years old my parents divorced, forcing our mom to find employment to support her four girls. Money was sparse and so was the pantry. For several years powdered milk, butter and grape jelly were the only constant staples in our home. We didn't starve, but I have many memories of trying to be creative at finding something to eat. I do not recommend Mayonnaise with peanut butter!

One day, I noticed there were a few pieces of bread left in the bag on the counter. Anticipating the satisfaction of biting into a bread ball, I tore into the package. To my dismay, the bread was a bit stiff and had a yeasty smell. I stripped off the stale crust and tossed it into the trash, and proceeded to mash the slice as usual. The stale bread only crumbled in my hand, leaving me terribly unsatisfied.

Though I no longer sit in the yard wearing just my underpants, I still enjoy a slice of bread now and then. Le Diplomat Cafe's French bread with creamy butter...ooh, la, la!

I must say, the idea that this picture popped in my mind as I was meditating on today's devotional is amazing. It really speaks to me of the plan of God and the threads he weaves in our lives. Considering the lesson he was kneading in my mind, I can't help but be moved when I look at this photo. The Lord who knit me together in my mother's womb, wove in me a passion for bread. Today, I still love sinking my teeth into bread, however, now there is a bread I savor more than all the rest, Jesus Christ.

"Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry," (John 6:35).

Growing up there were times when I did go hungry: times when there was no bread in the house. Tragically, being raised in a faithless home, I nearly starved to death for lack of spiritual bread as well. Yet, God had a plan.

In the days of Moses, God tended to his children-the Israelite nation-by sending down bread from heaven: they feasted on manna the forty years in the desert. Yet, the manna in the Old Testament was to nourish and sustain their physical bodies only. However, God intended His chosen to have manna for their souls as well; a bread that could sustain them eternally. Moses spoke to the Israelites about the bread which was to come;

"He (God) humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you or your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord," (Duet 8:3).

Jesus is the Word.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning," (John 1:1)

How wonderful God in His loving care provided manna for His spiritual children as well! Jesus was sent down to us from heaven as manna: to be our daily bread.

"Give us this day our daily bread," (Matthew 6:11).

Daily implies FRESH! With the Lord, day old bread won't do. A life of gathering manna each morning means we will live in the rich, savory aroma of freshly baked bread. There is only one alternative for God's children, and that is to dwell in the stench of rotting bread which smells of yeast and mold.

"However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell," (Exodus 16:20).

The lesson teaches that if we try to live off today's manna tomorrow, we are not following God's direction,and we too will feast on spiritual maggots. We need to heed the warning that a life with Christ is a daily journey. Therefore the Bread of Life should be part of our daily diet.

I find it awesome that we feast on eternal manna from heaven when we chew on the Word of God.

So I ask myself a few things:
-Is my spiritual life fresh?
-Does it have a pleasant aroma?
-Is my spirit soft and pliable?
-Do others savor my company?

Pondering these questions the WORD comes to me;

"And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me," (Luke 22:19).

I don't eat the Bread of Life just because it tastes good. I savor the Savior and remember...with each bite.