*Fresh Bread

Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:11

There used to be a grocery chain in Texas called Albertson's. Now personally, I detest grocery shopping, but I liked going to Albertson's. When you walked in the door, you were greeted with the aroma of fresh-baked bread. They baked twice a day. Once in the morning, so you could smell it if you stopped in on your way to work, and once in the evening, so you could smell it if you stopped in on your way home. They would serve it up hot and have it by the checkouts in an open-ended bag to let you get the full effect of that delightful come-and-get-it-smell of just-baked bread. 

If I grabbed a loaf of that bread on the way home, my family would sing my praises like I'd just baked it myself. Yet, all I did was pick up what was already available and serve it to them. You can almost smell it now, can't you? mmmmmmm...

As wonderful as the bread was that night, by the next morning, it was hard. It wasn't the same. Didn't have the same flavor, either. It was still bread. It still had all the same ingredients. It still had all the same nutrients, but it wasn't fresh. It could not evoke the same delight as it did fresh from the oven. I know because I bought many loaves of that bread and my family was delighted every time...

Let me ask you something. Do you think I would have bought stale bread on purpose? No, of course not, and neither would you. Do you think my family would have been thrilled if I'd served them stale bread? Would you serve stale bread to your family and friends or those you work with?  How long do you think you would eat stale bread? If you had nothing else, you might eat it one day, maybe two, but eventually, you throw it out.

The Word of God is our bread from heaven. And yet, we think if we've read the Bible before or memorized verses, that will suffice; that somehow we don't need to get it every day. Where do we get that idea? 

I don't want to survive on stale bread. And I don't want to serve stale bread to those I care about. I want it fresh - the aroma of heaven in my nostrils because I have been to the Throne Room, served up hot because of the fire that forged it in my spirit. Same bread recipe - different day. Served up fresh. How delightful - every time.

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for Your Word that is fresh every day. Thank You for its life-giving power. Thank You for making it available to us - right there and ready for us. Help us to be holy and diligent, workers who do not need to be ashamed, Your people, rightly dividing the Word of Truth and serving it up fresh. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen