Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  John 6:35

Bread, beautiful bread! Golden brown and fragrant, the perfect food! Who doesn’t love the smell of baking bread? How our sense of taste delights in enjoying a thick slice of warm bread fresh from the oven! Eating bread fills us up, satisfies our hunger, and somehow makes a meal worth enjoying.

But man cannot live on this bread alone. This kind of bread has a shelf life. It gets stale. It goes bad and eventually becomes inedible. Bread like this must be worked for every day. It cannot truly satisfy. This bread is eaten and hunger soon returns. And, too much bread is not a good thing, either. How many diets have been ruined by falling to the temptation of consuming too much bread?

Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.”

How much better to partake of Jesus! He is the bread that always satisfies, the bread that never spoils. He is the bread that truly sustains and nourishes our souls. He who eats of this bread will live forever! He who consumes this bread will never hunger again! The fragrance of a sacrifice acceptable to God rises from this bread and whets our appetites to partake.

Feast on the Bread of Life! Jesus bedecks the banquet table and invites us to eat. Go ahead and gorge yourself. You cannot eat too much, only too little, and even the tiniest nibble does wonders. This is living bread, the flesh of the One who loved us unto death, the One who will raise us up on the last day if indeed we partake of Him. Give us this, our daily bread, the bread of the Gospel, the body of Christ broken for you.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Taste of the Bread of Life and live!

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie van Baarsel