“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh which I will give for the life of the world.” – John 6:51 

Scripture reading: Exodus 16:1-5, 15-18, 31-35; John 6:48-51 

God got His grumbling people through the first two weeks in the wilderness by giving them water on multiple occasions. Then, when the supply of food they had taken from Egypt ran out, they were confronted with another crisis: starvation!

Instead of turning to God in prayer, they turned against Him in protest: “You have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. If only we had died in Egypt!” (16:3). What unbelievable unbelief!

What would you do if you were God? Better question: What did God do? With an impulse of grace, He declared, “I will rain down bread from heaven” (16:4). When they woke up the next morning, the desert floor was covered with thin frost-like flakes called manna. The flakes were white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

What amazing grace! Grace for grumblers and gripers in the form of daily bread from heaven.

But this manna was more than just physical food. It was a picture of Jesus. After miraculously multiplying five small barley loaves to sufficiently feed a crowd of five thousand people, Jesus pointed to Himself, saying, “Here is the bread that comes down from heaven…. Your forefathers ate manna in the desert, yet they died. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:50-51).

Suggestions for prayer

We eat physical food on a daily basis to nourish our body. Ask God to help you feed on Jesus, the Living Bread, on a daily basis, to nourish your soul.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Brian Zegers has been serving the Lord by working with Word of Life Ministry as home missionary to the Muslim community in Toronto, Ontario since 2015.