I learned quickly after moving to Colorado not to leave my bread uncovered on the counter. Within a few minutes it turned stale. I left humid Missouri where bread stayed fresh for days, requiring little vigilance on my part. Oreos are the opposite. Leave them out in Missouri and they go soft, but in Colorado they stay delicious for weeks.

Jesus spoke of bread to a crowd asking him questions. I am the bread of life. Whoever come to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus never goes stale. I pursue different substitutes, but I find they eventually crumble. My hopes in things other than Jesus, like financial security, or greater recognition, or simply a comfortable life, harden like bread sitting in an arid kitchen.

Only Jesus speaks words of eternal life. All other philosophies and pursuits go dry, but Jesus remains as fresh as when he walked this earth.

John 6 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Stephanie Harvey