What Is Your Daily Bread?
By Rick Warren
“People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3 (NLT)
When Jesus tells you to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 ESV), he’s talking about far more than just bread. In fact, the Bible says that bread represents four things.
Bread represents the necessities of life. When you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” you don’t sit on the couch and wait for God to throw you money. You’ve got to work!
God says, “I supply it. You gather it.” That’s God’s economy. Even the Israelites had to go out and pick up the manna. Work is part of God’s purpose for your life. It builds character. Proverbs 14:23 says, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table” (The Message).
Bread represents God’s Word. The Bible says, “People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3 NLT). The Bible is our spiritual food.
When the children of Israel were walking to the Promised Land, God dropped manna from heaven because they had nothing to eat. God gave them bread to show them they needed more than physical food to live; they needed to depend on him. Real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. We don’t just need physical nourishment; we need spiritual nourishment too.
Bread represents God’s family and fellowship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (AMP)
Bread is a metaphor for the family of God. You need God’s people in your life! Whether or not you have a physical family, God wants you to be part of his family that will last forever—the church. God made it to be a place of fellowship.
Bread represents salvation. In the act of communion, Jesus chose bread to represent the sacrifice of his body. Every time you eat the bread and drink the wine or juice, it is a reminder of how much God loves you and the sacrifice Jesus made so you can go to heaven.
Whatever your need is today—whether it’s physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual—depend on God to meet that need for you. Simply pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Then trust God to take care of you.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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