Our Daily Bread

When I was growing up, my family had a restaurant called The Daily Bread Café & Bakery. My grandma was influential in coming up with the name, and I remember there being a plaque on the wall with the Lord’s Prayer on it. I always knew where she got the idea for the name, but I didn’t realize how important that daily “bread” would someday be in my life.

As a child, my grandmother was more than just an amazing cook and baker—she was instrumental in getting me into church and teaching me about Jesus. She was the sweetest woman ever, and she had a huge impact on me during the 14 years of my life that she was alive. I know she prayed fervently for me to have a life with God at the center, and though it took a long time, God ultimately answered that prayer—long after she went to be with Him.

I was doing some training the other day on the topic of songwriting, and the teacher began to tell a story about journaling a vision of God baking bread. Shortly after that, she began waking up each morning to the smell of freshly baked bread. As she taught about the story of manna in Exodus—how it was fresh every day and would spoil by the next—it became very clear to me that God had such intention in using bread throughout His Word.

Bread is mentioned all throughout the Bible because it was a staple food in ancient times. It’s often used as a symbol of God’s provision, a means of fellowship, and a central component of the Lord’s Supper. What’s more, Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life. When we reflect on what that means, I think we can dig a little deeper into why God used bread to help us understand who He is to us.

In John 6:35, Scripture says:

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’”

This doesn’t just mean a one-and-done meal, does it? I think what we’re seeing here is that Jesus is the spiritual bread we eat each day—and that He will always give us what we need. It’s not that He cures our hunger once and for all, but that He continues to feed us every time we come to Him. If you inspect this concept closely, you’ll see God’s intentionality in the choice of “bread.”

We can all agree that bread is a pretty delicious source of nourishment for those of us blessed to be able to eat it. It nourishes us with both convenience and great taste. One thing you might’ve noticed about bread is that the more you eat of it, the more you want to eat it. It’s packed with short-lived nutrients that give us a full belly for a little while, but ultimately we need more. It’s often followed by a calm, nap-inducing feeling—especially around 2:30 in the afternoon after a sandwich lunch.

Just thinking about how bread is quickly digested and used up for energy—only to leave you craving more—is a lot like our walk with Jesus and nourishing ourselves with the Living Bread. He’s telling us that He has our spiritual nourishment and will provide it, but we need to keep coming back every day, hopefully several times a day. God designed our bodies to use bread much like our spirits use His Word.

He designed us to continually need and long for Him. For me, my best days are a continual feast of this spiritual meal, with many courses. I’ll start the day with a big breakfast of study, prayer, and worship and continue off and on until bedtime. Jesus promised that if you go to Him, you will not hunger or thirst again—but you have to go to Him, and often.

My grandmother made some of the best homemade white bread I’ve ever eaten, but she also pointed me to the Bread of Life. Just as she fed me physically with the bread she baked, she also showed me where to go for spiritual bread that would always satisfy and never run out.

Try this: feed yourself on the Word, spend time with Him, and see if you don’t start to crave more. If you’re in a spiritual slump, get in your Bible, get into prayer and worship, and start taking in the Living Bread more often—you’ll find that you crave it more. The nice thing about the Living Bread is that when you consume the things of God, it’s both calorie- and gluten-free. The more you eat of it—and the more often—the better your life will be.