Freshly Baked Bread

I am really glad my mother told me the things that she did. Whenever I am lucky enough to get a quiet moment, I fondly think of her and the memories she shared.

Mother came from a large family and she often talked about the amount of bread my grandmother baked to keep that family going strong.

Whenever I think of that I can almost smell the aroma of freshly baked bread.

There is simply no other smell like it. It is perhaps my favorite aroma in the world.

There is a restaurant near my place of business that serves excellent coffee. They also have their own bakery. Many times I have walked in intending to buy just a cup of coffee. More often than not I end up leaving with the coffee... and a loaf of freshly baked bread.

The thought of fresh bread with its wonderful aroma always leads me to think of bread’s role in the Bible and the references Jesus made to it.

In fact, the word bread appears over 300 times in the King James Version.

The first time bread is mentioned in the New Testament is during the temptation of Jesus.

Matthew 4:3 (KJV) - And when the tempter came to him, he said, "If thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread."

Jesus, of course, had a response.

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) - But He answered and said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God."

Jesus also understood our physical needs as well. This is made evident when he taught us how to pray what has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:11 (KJV) - Give us this day our daily bread.

Also in the book of Matthew is the account of the Lord’s Supper in which bread plays a very important role.

Matthew 26:26 (KJV) - And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat. This is my body.

Along with this verse, there is another in which Jesus refers to himself as "the bread of life".

John 6:35 (KJV) - 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.

I love that reference.

Just as the smell of bread always make me hungry, the thought of Jesus being the bread of life makes me hunger for both Jesus and the eternal life he offers.

The smell of baking bread doesn't just effect me. It has a similar impact on those around me.

I cannot keep that aroma to myself.

In a similar way, I should share Jesus with every one I meet. That is another thing my grandmother did.

Baking bread to feed her large family was far from the only thing she did well.

She also knew how to share the "bread of life" with everyone even if she just met them.

I adore the way she did it.

She would walk right up to them and ask, "Do you know my Jesus?"

I love those words, "my Jesus".

Those two words let everyone know that she had a deep and personal relationship with her savior and that they could have that kind of relationship with Him as well.

I cannot bake bread like my grandmother did.

But I can share the "bread of life" exactly like she did.

So I ask, "Do you know my Jesus?"


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com on Friday, June 10, 2011.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, June 17, 2011.
(Schedule subject to change)