Devotional

Devotionals Archive

Fried Bread

Jun 23, 2023

“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 6:35

As I was preparing French toast and sausage for breakfast recently, I remembered my brother and a hunting trip he planned into the deserts of Eastern Oregon. He invited my father to go with him, and when Dad offered to help by bringing some food supplies, my brother assured him that was all taken care of.

It was dark when they pitched a tent in some remote corner in the middle of nowhere, too late and too dark to fish or hunt. When morning came, my brother was up early starting a fire and making coffee. Since they had not found a fishing stream yet, my dad imagined the chuck box would offer a delectable dish to be cooked on the open fire. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

My brother’s idea of food supplies was onions, bread, and some bacon drippings from his last campout. He was cheerful as he fried the bread in the drippings. My dad was anything but cheerful; disbelief and disgust did not make the fried bread taste any better.

My dad trusted his son to provide sustenance in the wilderness, and he was sorely disappointed. This story stands in stark contrast to how God provided for the Children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. God supplied them with manna—bread from Heaven. There was very little labor involved; they just gathered it from the ground, fresh each day. It supplied all the nourishment that they needed. The Bible tells us it was like “coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31). For forty years, God supplied this bread from Heaven.

Spiritually, people look in a lot of places to find sustenance for their souls. If they look to man, sooner or later they will be disappointed. But if they look to Jesus, they will find that He is the Bread of Life. He is perfect and complete spiritual nourishment, He contains everything we need to grow and prosper as Christians. We can feast on His provision and never hunger or thirst again.

When we read the Bible and spend time with Jesus, we are partaking of that precious Bread from Heaven. How important it is to make sure we are getting our spiritual food from the right source, and to gather a fresh supply every day. It will satisfy the hungry soul!