“For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  John 6:33

Bread of Life

“This brown sugar is as hard as a rock!” my husband lamented, as he pounded the brick-like-mass with his spoon. “All I want is a teaspoonful to go on my cereal.” I could tell by his tone that somehow he expected me, at 6:00 AM, to produce some perfectly soft, pliable and oh-so-yummy confection for his oatmeal—after all, this was my department. Fortunately for me, I had a backup stashed away in the pantry (yes, me and that cool Proverbs 31 woman).  

But what to do with that unmanageable clump of sugar—suddenly an old trick of my mom’s dawned on me. Mom never threw out a single thing that could be reused, repurposed or salvaged, and thanks to a tip from her own mom, she knew that an unruly chunk of brown sugar could be readily (overnight that is) useable even without the use of a microwave oven. Placing a piece of bread in with the brown sugar would do just the trick. So I gave it a try, and sure enough, the next day that sugar was as soft and usable as the day it was made—perfect.  

All that got me to thinking, how many times I myself have felt “as hard as a rock”, un-pliable, and devoid of any natural moisture—plenty. Life has a way of draining every drop from our very bones, if we let it. What we need is a good-sized hunk of bread, the Bread of Life (John 6:35) to restore us. Taking time in His presence, absorbing His never-ending spring of life is just what we need.   

“Thank You, God, that we can come to You when we are dry and parched and the true Bread of Life will restore us to life. Amen!”