Our Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread Matthew 6:11    

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matthew 26:26 

This week I set out to bake several loaves of bread in my bread machines. This is something I really enjoy from choosing the recipe from my multiple bread machine cookbooks, to putting the ingredients together, to smelling the wonderful aroma of fresh baking bread. Even better is giving them away to family and friends and people I barely know who need a bread hug.

In this process I realized the miracle of bread. How can so many variations of ingredients come out as wonderful bread? How do they all come together in the right consistency? What does yeast do? Why do they need salt and sugar?  I contemplated the thousands of years people of all different cultures have made versions of bread readily accepting the miracle that an edible result would happen. I remembered how the Jews fled Egypt and their bondage so quickly that their bread did not have time to rise and how they continue to recall and include this in their Passover celebrations after all these years. Even Satan tempted a fasting Jesus in the wilderness saying, "You can make these stones turn into bread".

I am sure a scientist could explain to me the chemical and biological reactions that take place during the making of bread, but I still find wonder in the miracle that makes it come out as bread. God has truly blessed us with the miracle of bread in our everyday lives. From our toast in the morning, the sandwich at lunch, and the rolls at special holidays together, this is a miracle we take for granted. Even at the last supper, Christ compared the breaking of bread to the breaking of his body and we celebrate after all these years his words along with bread during communion. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we praise you for your loving us so much that you give us the miracle of bread to nourish our bodies as well as our souls. As we pray "Give us this day our daily bread", help us remember your daily miracles around us and be grateful for all you have provided. Amen.

Nancy Hall