Is Bread A Staple In Your Household?

During lock down did you find yourself needing to go to the shop to buy more bread?

My personal time with God lately has observed a common theme that keeps cropping up. It has to do with the ‘bread of life’.

During the holidays when we had some intense wintry days that kept us inside, instead of losing ourselves in a TV program or a Netflix movie, my husband and I had a binge on the series ‘The Chosen’. We watched almost all of Series 2 from start to finish over a rainy two-day period. Scenes of Jesus life, from the four Gospels, came to life. Since that time, my husband and I have been reading the Gospel of John together. Although the Director of the series has taken a bit of a leash on the gospel in a few places, as we read testimonies of Jesus life in the bible, the scenes that we watched on ‘The Chosen’, are bringing revelation through a different lens. One of the things that stood out to me the most, was how Jesus chose his 12 disciples. Each of them had individual gifts and talents that Jesus wanted as part of his network and support team. They experienced their own challenges, and Jesus worked with them, exercising gentleness, love and grace. Jesus kept feeding and teaching his disciples and the people around Him.

The small groups within our church are about to launch into a new Bible Study series called ‘Feeding for Life’. The minister during his sermon this last Sunday, reminded us that Jesus is the bread of life that lasts. Jesus is the only reality that lasts. His bread feeds us for our current life. Jesus reveals that when we know him as the bread of life, we enter into a TRUST relationship with Jesus. Feeding on him, needs to occur on a daily basis. “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” John 6:47-48. Jesus is not a contingency plan; he’s our 1st plan, 2nd plan, and 3rd plan… Hebrews 13:5-6 says: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’”

Our minister reminded us of three things:

1. Jesus calls us to shed comparisons – comparisons are a ‘bread of life’ killer. They rob us of the big picture of Jesus as bread of life. We need not compare ourselves to what others have, because Jesus supplies everything we personally need.

2. Jesus calls us to embrace contentment. Phil 4:12 ‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…’

3. Jesus calls us to live sustainably – sustainably, simply, trust, the bread of life. Simplicity takes the complexity out of life, so that we can live simply, with Father God, which breeds contentment, from the bread of life.

During this interesting season requiring flexibility on a daily and weekly basis, we are reminded that Jesus is our constant. He is the bread of life that we need.

If you find yourself searching for another series or another TV program once the Olympics are finished, I encourage you to look up the series ‘The Chosen’. It is available free online and also via an App at the App Store, which you can download onto your phone and then watch through Chromecast onto your TV. It has facilitated great conversation for my husband and I, as we read through the gospel of John together, and seek to feed on the bread of life.

Blessings

Helen Vonow
Head of Junior School