7^th & 8^th May

Weekend Edition

“Give us today the food we need…”

Matthew 6:11

Countless times in the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself as the ‘Bread of Life’. One such example is in John 6:35. The previous day Jesus fed 5000 people using just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. As the crowds gathered again, they began discussing this wonderful miracle with Jesus, and incredibly asked Jesus, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it (that Jesus was the One sent from Heaven) and believe You? What will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”(bold words added). Clearly feeding 5000 people was not a big enough miracle to prove Jesus was who He said He was….?

Jesus’ response to the crowd’s questions was simply to emphasise that His miracle was so much more than just food. Jesus highlighted that He was Himself the ‘Bread of Life’ and that if people believed in Him, they would never go hungry again. Of course, Jesus’ statement was not solely talking about our physical needs, but rather a statement to help people with the spiritual hunger. His words are our food. When we read them, digest them and let them nourish our spiritual bodies we no longer walk around hungry, searching for something to fill our desires, but rather we become full from God’s words and His goodness fills our lives.

Moreover, Jesus also promised that He would provide all our day to day needs too. He is our provider and does provide our ‘daily bread’. He is the giver of all good gifts. He looks after the sparrow and clothes the fields with beautiful lilies. His clothes us, feed us and protects us. Is it good to pray for our needs and give thanks for all He provides. Jesus is our physical and spiritual provider. He is our all in all. He is everything we need. Let us eat from Him, and never go hungry again.