by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Finding Nourishment in Christ

You  can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Give us this day our daily bread…”
Matthew 6:11 English Standard Version

Plants are in a desperate search for nutrients especially in the desert. Everything seems to work against plants surviving in arid climates. Water is limited and the ground is often rocky. Yet, plants survive. They grow roots in the oddest places.

Life can often feel like a desert.

Our bodies are in search of nourishment.

Our minds are in search of nourishment.

Most of all, our souls are in need of nourishment.

When I say the Lord’s Prayer, if often seems strange to me that right after praying that God’s name be holy, that his rule and reign would come, and that his will would be done, we pray something that seems self-centered as asking for daily bread, daily nourishment. Shouldn’t our request for forgiveness, avoidance of temptation, and deliverance from evil come first?

What is daily bread? What do our “roots” need?

I’m not sure that we always know what we’re hungering for, that we know what’s good for us. We know that our bodies need food and water. We know that mental health is extremely important to our daily functions. Yet, there is something missing even when our bodies and minds are nourished.

At creation, God breathed into us his life. It is this life that also needs daily bread. Our roots search for that which satisfies the soul. Nothing satisfies us like Jesus. He is our daily bread, our bread of life (John 6:35). He cares for our bodies, minds, and spirits. When we ask for daily bread, we ask our Father to give us Jesus; this Jesus who forgives us and leads us in our daily journey with his daily presence.

And when we understand that Jesus is our daily bread, we then get the point of why this petition precedes asking for forgiveness, pleading not to be lead into temptation, and praying to be delivered from evil.

May our souls, our bodies and minds too, find their nourishment in Christ today.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado