Reminder - Fresh Bread

Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11

There used to be a grocery chain around here called Albertson's. Now personally, I detest grocery shopping, but I liked going to Albertson's. When you walked in the door, you could smell the fresh 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. Baked it right there. 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. Mmmmmm - you can almost smell it now, can't you?

When I grabbed a loaf of that bread on the way home, my family would sing my praises like I'd just baked it myself. Although, as wonderful as that 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. However, I know I bought hundreds of loaves of that bread and my family was delighted every time...

So, let me ask you something. Do you think I would have bought stale bread on purpose? Do you think my family would have been thrilled if I'd served them stale bread? No, of course not, and neither would you. Would you serve it to your friends and/or those you work with? How long would you eat stale bread? Maybe one day, two at the most, if you have nothing else. 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 do it every day. I'll just tell you. 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 - different day. Served up fresh. How delightful.

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, 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