There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread in the oven. A scent unmistakable. It's a scent everyone knows. It just smells like warm love, doesn't it? Just from a few ingredients the aroma takes over your entire home. No matter how you slice it, fresh bread is delicious. It's filling and goes well with everything.
When you sit down at the table to enjoy a family meal the question arises, "Hey, where's the bread?" To my dismay, it is still in the oven, warming and now ready to bring to the table. Everyone reaches in and smiles. Bread just seems to make you smile, doesn't it?
“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
Bread is so filling, it could be your only meal. At least for me it could be. Sure, you could add a sliver of butter or some fresh jam, but all alone, it is delicious. As you sit at the table and look across to your guests, you pass the bread around asking, "Would you like a slice?" Now, that is just something inviting.
I have a friend who is the most amazing cook I know. She always has something baking in the oven and when she is making bread you just feel giddy inside as you anticipate that first bite. The aroma just takes you home to a place of security and peace.
"Jesus answered and said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
John 4:13-14
Have you ever been out on a hot day and a friend offered you a drink of cool water? There is nothing so refreshing when you are dehydrated from the elements around you. I love a cool glass of water, but something even better is a drink from a cool, fresh spring. The water is pure and it quenches your thirst and cools the body. Leaving you refreshed.
Did you know that as you sit down to bask in your dinner of fresh bread the best drink you could ask for is water? No matter the dinner before you, water allows your pallet to taste everything and enjoy what is before you. The pureness of the water brings out the flavors in all that you about to taste.
If you are on a weary journey looking for rest the very thing you need is food and drink. After you have had your fill you are then able to find rest. When we ready for a hike, we make sure we have water in our pack. We need that hydration to make our journey complete. We not only want to make it to our destination, but we want to make it back home. Just that filling will do the trick.
When we have guests in our home we always ask, "Would you like something to drink?" That too makes friends feel at home. It allows them to know that you really do care for them. Your willing to serve them in order to make them feel loved and welcome.
Fresh bread brings people together. Water is inviting. Jesus is our Living Bread and He too is our Water of Life. Without Him something just seems to be missing. Just like the bread on the table or the glasses filled with drink. He adds so much to life. He is the Servant before us filling us with all we need. He gives abundantly. With Him we will never hunger or thirst again. Just taste and see, my friends!
"Give us this day our daily bread."
Matthew 6:11
"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."
Matthew 10:42
