"Give us this day......"

    

      I have been doing more reading lately on the benefits of homemade, real bread.  I found an interesting article that was rather lengthy, but gave a lot of sound advice.  So, the next few blogs will be based on this.

     When contemplating any issue, we should always start at the Source of all Life.  I was amazed to look in my Strong's concordance and see the word "bread" mentioned hundreds of times in Scripture.  We often picture God as a big vending machine, handing things out when we pray for them.  When we pray "Give us this day our daily bread,..", without even realizing it, we are asking for so much more than just a loaf of bread to be handed to us.  The Lord made that very clear in His Word, and we need to understand His meaning of this passage.

     Those who are scholars in the area of the study of Scripture and the proper interpretation of it have a special way of finding the importance and meaning of a certain topic.  It is referred to as the law of first mention.  The first time that a word/topic is mentioned in Scripture often gives valuable insight into how God wants us to understand and apply that topic. Even in the simple area of our daily sustenance.  The first time that the word bread is mentioned in Scripture is found in the book of all firsts, Genesis.  As Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden of Eden, God is telling them the consequences of their sin.  "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:17-19    
     The last time that bread is mentioned in scripture is also significant.  In II Thessalonians 3:11-13 Paul is exhorting the believers and tells them "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all but are busybodies.  Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread."   Isn't it interesting that the word "work" is in the same phrase as "bread" in both passages?  It is obvious from these passages that bread is not to be received without labor.  When we pray for our daily bread, we are really praying for the work that should accompany that!
     Think about Jesus, after He fasted for 40 days and was tempted of the Devil.  Remember how Satan told Him to turn the stones into bread?  Jesus knew that the act of making bread in that way would go against the basic laws that God had laid down at the beginning for bread!  Think of the children of Israel in the wilderness.  Even the manna from heaven required work before it could be eaten.  God equates daily bread with work so that we will appreciate and thank Him for the abilities that He has given us to acquire it.
      When you give thanks for your food, think of all the work that went into it.  Not just the "hands that prepared" the meal, but what about the one who brought in the paycheck so you could buy it?  What about the laborers who picked the grain, or the trucker who drove it to the store?  Did you put a lot of work into your bread today?  True daily bread should be made and eaten on the same day. How long has that loaf from the store been on the shelf?  True satisfaction of any food comes with the amount of work put into it.  Which would taste better to you, a frozen factory-made lasagna or a homemade one made with home grown tomatoes, hand rolled noodles, fresh from the farm mozzarella and farm raised beef?  My mouth is watering just thinking of that second one!  Our society is suffering from the lack of satisfaction that comes from working for what we consume. 
     So, how hard did you work for that loaf of bread today?  Try putting some elbow grease into a ball of dough and then bake it and enjoy the satisfaction of a hard earned loaf of bread!

*Just had a thought, it seems unusual to me that the word we use to describe sitting around doing nothing is "loaf".  Hmm, wonder where that came from?  I'll have to research that one!