THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD

“That it may give seed to the sower, and BREAD to the eater: So shall MY WORD be that goes forth out of My mouth” – Isaiah 55: 10b-11a

While spiritual milk is the believer’s first diet, the BREAD of GOD’S WORD is the main menu: “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and BREAD to the eater, so shall MY WORD be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa.55: 10-11). God’s Word is described as “seed to the sower,” “bread to the eater” and a messenger on divine assignment. Our interest today is in the analogy of bread. We don’t just need physical nourishment; we also need spiritual nourishment, which comes through the Bread of God’s Word.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily BREAD” (Mt.6:11). Here, He meant far more than just physical bread. The Bible uses the term ‘bread’ to represent at least four things, namely: provisions for life’s necessities, including daily food; God’s family and fellowship; salvation; and God’s Word. In terms of meeting life’s necessities, it is what God supplies, we gather: “What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good” (Psa.104:28). Bread is also a metaphor for fellowship and the family of God: “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1Cor.10:16b). Jesus chose bread to also signify salvation – His sacrifice in communion. Most siginificantly, bread represents God’s Word – the Bible is our spiritual food.

What man eats has always been significant. Adam and Eve knew the instruction of God: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Not suprisingly, one of Satan’s first attacks on God’s word is in Genesis 3:1 “Has God indeed said….?” Is it really true? He was trying to get them to doubt the truth of God’s word. In Matthew 4:1-4, we see Jesus’ response when Satan used the same approach: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Mt.4:4b). Jesus echoed an Old Testament verse: “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut.8:3).

When the children of Israel were sojourning to the Promised Land, God dropped manna from Heaven for them to pick up because they had nothing to eat. He gave them this bread to teach them that people need more than physical bread for their life. God’s Word is like bread to the spiritually hungry. Bread is symbolic of scripture. Real life in Christ is contingent on feeding on every word of the Lord. Beyond our physical needs, such as water and food, we need spiritual nourishment that can only come from the Lord God. Whatever our needs are – physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual – God’s Word is more than sufficient to take care of them if we’ll trust, believe, and obey. When we feast on Scripture, it becomes a powerful part of our life and part of our being.

There are many ways in which God's Word satisfies like bread. God’s Word teaches, corrects, and trains (2 Tim. 3:16-17). His Word provides direction and guidance (Psa.119:105). His Word gives hope (Rom. 15:4). And His Word grants wisdom and discernment (Heb. 4:12). We should therefore be intentional about making time for God's Word daily. The Bible is not meant to be a cute accessory, but our Living Bread, needed desperately every day.