Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Jesus said, ‘For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, February 12, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I’m in recovery for food addiction. When I was in my addiction, I ate constantly as a way to numb out from the emotional pain in my life. I was not equipped to deal with reality, and there was a giant, gaping, God-shaped hole in the center of my being. I was hungry all the time, but the hunger wasn’t physical—I was getting way more food than I needed. I didn’t need any more actual bread. I was desperate for “the bread of God that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” I just didn’t know it.
In recovery, my fellow addicts helped me figure this out. Fortified with the bread that is God, I learned how to deal with my reality in healthy ways, and I’m grateful to say that I haven’t eaten compulsively in nearly seventeen years.
Are there other kinds of “bread” I seek after for my comfort, rather than the bread of God?