Most people are familiar with some rendition of, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It is an essential element of the most famous prayer ever spoken. Millions of people recite it every single day. People have been reciting it since it was first spoken by Jesus over 2,000 years ago.

So, what does it mean? What is daily bread?

There are a few things that come to mind when I consider daily bread. The first is the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years with God providing manna from Heaven every single day. In the morning, the Israelites would go out and gather up the manna that God had sent down for them to eat for that day. Anything that was kept longer than the day became ruined and inedible (Exodus 16:20-21).

God literally supplied bread daily. If God had not shown up, they would have starved. I mean, they were wandering in a desert and, by definition, a desert is without much life in it.

That means there is a natural quality to the notion of daily bread. God provides food for us to eat. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 6:25-34. God knows that we need to eat (I mean, He did create us, right?). If He provides for the birds (and we are WAY more valuable to Him than birds), then He will provide for us if we seek after Him.

The second thing that comes to mind also takes place in a desert. Instead of 40 years, it takes place in 40 days.

After His baptism, Jesus is led into the desert where He does not eat for 40 days. The very first thing that Satan brings forth to tempt Him is food. In Matthew 4, Satan tells Jesus to prove He is God by turning stones into bread. Jesus’ response is to quote Deuteronomy 8:3b, “…man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

So that means that daily bread is more than physical bread or nourishment. It is also the Word of God. His Word is a different kind of bread, but it is still a bread that we need every day. It is spiritual nourishment.

Just like the manna from Heaven, God’s Word is readily accessible to anyone that wants to partake. You just need to pick it up. Every single day, you need to pick up your portion of spiritual nourishment.

There are two different times in the Bible where, in a vision, a man of God appears before the Lord’s messenger and is told to physically eat a scroll of Scripture. Ezekiel eats it in Ezekiel 3:3. The Apostle John eats it in Revelation 10:10. We are to consume God’s Word as if we are physically eating it. Take it in, chew on it, let it rest inside of you, and let it be absorbed into you.

The third (and final – I promise) thing that comes to mind also involves Jesus. In John 6, Jesus chastises a group who had followed Him just because He had miraculously provided bread for them to eat the day before. He explains that He came to provide so much more than physical sustenance.

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst,’” (John 6:35).

Our daily bread provides us with life – physical and spiritual, natural and everlasting life. Jesus is the ultimate portion of bread that we need to consume. It is life. He is Life.

That is why it is called Daily Bread, not Weekly Bread or Monthly Bread or Chreaster Bread (Christmas+Easter). We need bread every single day because…

Lord, give us this day our daily bread – food to eat, your Word to consume, and your Son to follow. Amen.