Since the early 1980s, something good has come out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Some will have to reread that sentence. Blink a couple of times to make sure your eyes are clear and reading correctly. You might wonder if this devotional is written by a guest contributor. I can assure you that it’s not being written by anyone except myself and when you read the rest of the devotional, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Today is National Homemade Bread Day, started by The National Homemade Bread Committee of Ann Arbor. It is a day to enjoy making and eating homemade bread.
Is there any better smell emanating from a kitchen than the smells of warm homemade bread? It’s comforting. It’s inviting. It makes you feel warm inside before you even take a bite. Watching a pat of butter slowly melt on that sultry slice is sublime!
This is the time of year when I remember mom making homemade breads. Typically, it was pumpkin and date bread but there would be the occasional zucchini or banana bread tossed into the mix. Perfectly wrapped loaves filled the freezer, ready to be pulled out and thawed as gifts or the centerpiece to a plate of homemade cookies and fudges. Dad and I would help ourselves frequently and would be greeted with mom’s mocked (I think) displeasure. She had them counted and knew where they were going. My logic was that mom could just make more. That sounded reasonable.
A few years back, I got into making Lemon Poppyseed Amish Friendship Bread. I don’t
remember how many loaves I made but there were several filling the freezer. Eventually, I got tired of making it. Dealing with the starter over the 10 days and having to feed it was not a big deal. It just never failed that baking day was on an inconvenient day, especially when day 10 fell on a Sunday.
Today, I invite you to our Bread “factory,” although that term isn’t accurate. The Bread isn’t made here. It’s not a store because nothing is sold. We sure don’t want to call it a dispensary because that term connotes something different in our culture. This is where the best Bread ever will be handed out liberally and freely. The aroma of that Bread is sweet, and it is the most filling Bread you will ever eat.
John 6:32-35 says, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (34) Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (35) 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.”
This is a special comparison Jesus uses of Himself. In the Old Testament, the Israelites complained, and God gave them bread – manna from Heaven – to fill their bellies. The Word of God is equated with bread when Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”
This Bread is powerful, fulfilling the greatest need known to man. As you hear about this Bread today, consider the rest of what Jesus had to say in John 6:48-51.
“I am that bread of life. (49) Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. (50) This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. (51) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
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