Best Thing Since Sliced . . .

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

John 6:47–51

“Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

What is the best idea you’ve ever heard? Apparently, in 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company had a great idea and they became the first company to sell sliced bread. Afterward, people used this moment as a benchmark and a way to denote a great idea or innovation. As much as I appreciate this improvement in the world, I am confident in saying that Jesus is the best thing since before sliced bread!

When we began this week, we learned that grain was essential to the daily life of the Israelites. It was the center of their existence. Without bread, many of them would not be able to survive. While I would venture to guess that most of us do not worry about surviving each day, what do you believe you need in your life? What is essential for your daily life? Psychologist Abraham Maslow created a list of needs every human being has from those essentials to security, belonging, esteem, and purpose. Many of us tend to worry because we have our own list of what we need to be satisfied. We worry because we don’t believe God will provide enough of what we have decided we need. That’s a keyword: enough. Will we have enough? We are worried because we believe we’ll end up with the least, but the truth is we can trust Jesus because He is not only enough, He is the best.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus fed more than five thousand people by multiplying bread. He took the bare essentials of a few loaves and fish and He provided all they needed plus baskets of leftovers. The next day the crowd went in search of Jesus on the other side of the lake and they asked Him for a sign like the manna which was given to their ancestors in the desert. Jesus responds that He is the bread they need, but it is more than the bare minimum essentials. Jesus is enough because He is the best and He can multiply all things to be not only enough, but to be overflowing.

Is there an area in your life where you do not feel you have enough physically? Maybe it’s money or a job or a home. Is there a place in your spiritual life where you do not feel you have enough knowledge of the Bible or experience in prayer? Surrender your worry to Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life and the Creator of all. We do not have to worry that God is not enough for our lives. He is all we need.

THE PRAYER 

Lord, why do we worry? You are everything we need. You are the one who knows how to provide, so today we lay down our fish and our bread, we surrender all we have and we trust You to be all we need. Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

Why do you think Jesus made a point of stressing that, like manna, He came down from heaven? How does that increase your trust in God? What does it mean to you that Jesus is the best and most important need we have? How will you re-prioritize the list of needs you have in your mind?

For the Awakening,
Susan Kent 

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