Sustenance and Salvation

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When I pray the words “daily bread” my thoughts immediately go to the manna that God provided the Israelites in the desert. Manna was God’s daily provision of sustenance—food that would sustain them in all they had to do.

God’s provision is both generous and specific. When we look to Him, He gives us all we need. His desire is that our sustenance would feel like abundance in the midst of a “dry and weary land.” Why then, does it sometimes seem like we’re struggling to just barely get by? Because, we look to culture and this world instead of God for the definition of the words, “all we need.” As Madonna so famously sang, our material world shapes us into material girls (and boys).

This materialism is the source of our struggle and discontent. In contrast, when we look to God for our daily bread, we learn the value of simplicity, not because He does not want to bless us abundantly but because abundance in the Kingdom of God holds a different weight. It is light and easy to carry and links us intimately with Jesus.

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I titled today’s devotional as sustenance and salvation. In John chapter six, Jesus made that same connection when he said, “I am the Bread of Life.” This is where God’s abundance becomes abundantly clear. Jesus is God’s provision for us to have eternal life. He justified us through his death and resurrection. He is in the process of sanctifying us every day as we continually let go of this world to live simply in Christ. And one day we will be glorified and will experience all the abundance he has for us. That is sustenance and salvation.

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