33 For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then
said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
–John 6:33-35 (KJV)
Last summer a friend of mine offered to give
me a bag of Amish friendship bread starter. Have you ever
had one of those moments where you felt inspired and far braver than
you actually are, so you agreed to try something a little out of the
ordinary? I had one of those moments and so I decided to try my
hand at making Amish friendship bread. My readers who are experienced
in this area will understand when I say that making this bread can quickly
become a chore. You have to work with it a little every day for
about ten days, and then you make the bread, which is no small task.
I was about half way through the process when I came home one day to
discover one of our dogs, I think Leon was the culprit, had managed
to get the bag of started off the counter. The bag was in tatters,
the sweet sticky starter had been licked from the floor, and even the
instructions had apparently been eaten. Both of our dogs, Ada
and Leon, looked guilty, but they had obviously enjoyed themselves very
much.
I thought this was the end of my Amish friendship
bread experience, but not so. My friend happened to have another
bag of starter, which she gladly gave me. In the end I made Amish
friendship bread, I had five bags of starter to give away, and few people
were willing to take them off my hands. I now understand why.
When I think of the work involved with this
bread, I cannot help but consider what Jesus said about being the bread
that gives life to the world. Jesus referred in John 6 to the
manna God used to feed His people the Israelites during their 40 years
of wandering in the wilderness. They ate of this divine bread,
yet they became hungry again. Jesus said that the bread He offers,
which is Himself, would fully satisfy the hunger and longing of the
human soul. Our hearts are filled to overflowing when we partake
of the bread Jesus Christ offers, which is a personal relationship with
Him. Nothing will fill the void of our lives like Jesus Christ.
Anything else we try will leave us unfulfilled, but Christ indeed fills
our lives with the blessings of God and the abundant life.
I have no way of knowing what sort of difficulties
and problems you are facing right now. However, I do know there
is hope in the Lord. Jesus promised to help, empower, comfort,
and strengthen us as we walk the troubled roads of life. We do
not have to walk in fear and anxiety, for the Spirit of God will give
us give us power to walk in victory. When we are looking to the
Lord and trusting Him our problems, as many as there are, somehow seem
smaller and more manageable.
Keep your eyes on Jesus today. Focus
on Him and His power. The promise of God is that He
will bring us through whatever trial we are facing, and we will come
through stronger on the other side.
God bless you today.
