Image from chevydetroit.com
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ (John 6:51-58)
Good Monday to you, dear Friend! I pray this finds you and yours doing well. I hope you had a fantastic weekend that included time for the Lord and your family. As we pray, can we lift up prayers of gratitude and joy for Mr. Bob Clark, who is in town after a nine hour operation in Houston! He's on the mend and the doctor have pronounced him cancer-free! Pray that the cancer have departed for good! Prayers for Ms. Charlotte Wilson, who's recovering in San Antonio from open-heart surgery. She was in good spirits when I saw her and prayers for her healing would be welcome. We shared a joy about our youngest, Caitlin D. Valverde, who passed the last school exam before graduating from her university as a nurse practitioner! She needs our prayers as she prepares for state boards. Our continued prayers for Mr. Doug Smith as he battles cancer. Prayers for his wife, Autumn, and their family.
This past week we drove by the old Butterkrust bakery on Broadway in San Antonio. It brought back precious memories of the days you could drive by and see the bread making its way from the ovens to the packaging department; the smell of bread fresh in the air. I thought back to my seminary days when on the campus of our seminary, the smell of another bread company made its way to the Perkins campus to taunt an torment hungry seminarians! And nothing quite beats the smell of bread, except the smell of fresh, home made flour tortillas! Nellie and I grew up in households where that was very common, more so even that white bread. And every culture has its "bread," the basic dietary staple that both identifies and unites people from that culture. Bread and its wonderful smell are universal. To have bread is to have food, and to have food is to have life. Jesus knew that and makes the statement that opens this passage: "I am the living bread that came down from Heaven." To know and receive Jesus is to receive eternal life. To have eternal life should mean that you and me smell like bread! We should be a glorious odor of life to those who are in need of such. Imagine, carrying a pan of fresh baked bread past hungry people; in the same way, we should be inviting people to "taste and see that the Lord is good..." What do we smell like? If we don't smell like bread we might be smelling like the odors of those things that can kill us or like those who are perishing. If we are not smelling like fresh Jesus, we might be stinking the air with stale sin.
We are blessed that we have access to the bread of life. We are also blessed that we have access to the celebration Jesus instituted in which we remember Him and His body and blood; all preludes of what is to come; the celebration banquet of eternity in Glory. And we can invite whoever we want to come and join us for this meal now in our churches, in preparation for that meal at which Jesus Himself will preside and bless us for all eternity.
PRAYER: Loving Father, pour over me the smell of fresh bread! I want to be the smell of fresh Jesus, a Savior of love and life. Remove from me the stale odors of sin and death, and let me be a sweet-smelling fragrance of life. Eternal life. In the Name of He who provides this, Jesus my Lord and Savior, I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the smell of bread to those around you, especially the spiritually starved!
Eradio Valverde
