We often approach pieces of Scripture in which there are so many different methods of interpreting it, where the majority will yield great fruits. Today, I would like to touch on a piece of Scripture that is usually used to preach about believing in Christ, but I will actually discuss it in another point of view (I will discuss the most common point of view in future posts).

“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 (NIV 1984)

The usual approach to interpreting this passage is emphasizing on belief in Jesus and developing the zeal through “coming to Christ”. I would like to share my other perception of this, which is taking Jesus as bread. When we look at the diction bread, we notice that this is the common food people eat in western society. In other words, bread means food, and if we don’t have bread, we can’t survive. Same should go with the bread of life, but rather than talking about the necessity to survive, I would like to share how I take this bread.

Matthew 6:11 states “Give us today our daily bread”. Waking up, praying and reading the Bible has become such a habit that it is a routine I do when I wake up. However, when we are talking about routine, we often fear the concerns of spiritual dryness as it becomes a habit or a custom and the meaning is lost. What is the purpose of eating if you don’t need food? There must be purpose when you pray and there also must be purpose when you are reading the Bible. If you are reading the Bible and you feel like there is spiritual dryness, you need to reflect on your method and lifestyle. Perhaps rather than reading for context, God wants to speak to you more intimately by meditating on His word (Psalm 119). Perhaps you need to look at your life, see if you are doing something purposeful and if not, find something purposeful to do, such as going out and making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)? There must be purpose for reading God’s words and praying.

Are you thanking God for your food everyday? A common questions we expect from kids who see us pray is “Why do we pray before a meal?” It is to give thanks to the lord for providing the meal to us. In the meantime, if we feel like we are spiritually dry and perhaps not even finding a purpose in praying before a meal, maybe it’s time to take action, such as fasting.

In the same way, as we are taking the daily living bread, we should not forget to give thanks to the bread. We do so through prayer, worship and communion. Again, this is important, when we are worshiping, not only do we need to repent our sins in front of God before we do so but we need to understand the purpose of worship. Do you really mean it when you are singing the lyrics of worship music? If you’re not, you’re better off not singing as you are sinning by lying to God. If you really mean it, you would probably understand and have a purpose for worship.

Therefore, while we take our daily living bread, we need to find purpose in doing so, and I challenge you my brothers and sisters to do so. If you can’t find a purpose, it’s probably time to reflect on yourself and seek change in your life, as God has so much more to bless us with!