JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE Introduction

Bread is one of the basic foods in our diet. Bread has long been called the staff of life, something crucial to people`s existence. Physical bread does 2 things: 1 it satisfies us by taking away our hunger. 2 it gives us life in the sense that we eat and live There are some people who prefer the crust, other the crumb but almost everybody loves bread. I am sure that most us if not all of us made a trip to the shop sometime yesterday or during the week to get a loaf of bread. The bread was readily available on the shelf but there was also quite a variety to choose from.

All in all you will think it a very uneventful trip but you will be wrong. It is quite difficult for us as South Africans to understand the importance of bread unless we turn on our TV and watch what was going on in o many parts of the world today. When there is no staff of life there is suffering and famine.

A simple loaf of bread: Something which we do not give a second thought, but in certain parts of the world it means life itself.

It is only as we comprehend that situation that we can really begin to understand the importance of bread not only now but also in the time of Jesus. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Bread of Life Metaphorically speaking Jesus is the spiritual bread, He takes away our spiritual hunger and fills us with eternal life

We find so many theological events in the Bible which revolves around the subject of bread.

In the Old testament God provided the Israelites with manna from heaven, they were told only to take what was required for one day supply and had to trust that God would sent more the next day. The manna served as salvation for the Israelites physical needs on a daily basis God however knew of a greater need His Son the Bread of Life . How do we eat the bread of life JESUS? by obeying God in all things, sharing his word with others, by allowing the word of God to become part of us in order for change to take place-we must figuratively eat him. Story of the Jesus being tempted in the desert and said that man cannot live by bread alone. Then one day when Jesus was praying by the roadside when the disciples walked up and saw him. They were so impressed by the genuine nature of His prayer they implored Him and said :Master teach us how to pray. It was in the midst of the Master`s prayer that He reminds us the importance of the staff of lifeHe prayed:give us our daily bread. Bread is central to the major stories of the bible but

1. To satisfy your hunger for heaven you cannot eat the bread of earth 2. So to satisfy our hunger for heaven we must eat the bread of heaven. 3. We must eat proper spiritual food to be spiritual healthy in other words food from Jesus. We will not be filled unless we partake of the bread of Life Jesus Christ. It is He whom we need to eat in order to have eternal life .Jesus is the manna for our soul that God has promised. Isnt it true that no one can eat this bread on our behalf and in the same way cannot expect to grow spiritually if we do not edify ourselves with the word of God. Once we`ve tasted the bread of life ! Or shall I say once we become soaked in the word of God and it transformed us, I mean really transform, WHAT THEN ? we will then be able to see the need to share with others. To testify of the wonderful God we serve ,those who will hear will also hunger for the word of God. Conclusion Since Jesus is the Bread of Life , we must treat him with great importance as actual food .We must partake of him each day by praying ,reading his word, listening to the holy spirit acknowledging that He is nourishing us spiritually. And also as we eat , we should remember that physical food is a symbol of how we are to relate to Jesus spiritually and thank him for providing both physical food for my body and spiritual food for my soul.

Feed on Gods Word Each Day

Your words were found, and I ate them... Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV A woman bought a parrot, took him home, and then returned him to the pet store the next day. This bird doesnt talk, she told the owner. Does he have a mirror? asked the owner. Parrots love mirrors. They see themselves and start up a conversation. So the woman bought the mirror. Next day she returned. The bird still wasnt talking. How about a ladder? Parrots love walking up and down a ladder. A happy parrot is more likely to talk. The woman bought a ladder. Sure enough, she was back the next day; the bird still wasnt talking. Does your parrot have a swing? If not, thats the problem. Hell relax and talk up a storm. The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left. When she walked into the store the next day her countenance had changed. The parrot died, she said. The pet store owner was shocked. Im so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word? he asked. Yes, right before he died, the woman replied. He said, Dont they sell any food at that pet store?

The moral of this story is: You can spend your life on mirrors, focusing on appearance; on ladders, focusing on career success; on swings, focusing on entertainmentand starve to death spiritually. Youll die spiritually if you dont feed yourself on Gods Word each day! Jeremiah said, Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. By Pastor Reece Anderson