Bread of God, Bread of Life

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)


            Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (John 6:35-38)
BREAD OF GOD, BREAD OF LIFE

          Bread. Carbohydrates. They're absolutely essential to life, but there's bread and then there's bread. You can have healthy grains, some water, some herbs, and some yeast, or you can have bleached, processed flour, milk, yeast, sugar, more sugar, and whatever else tickles your taste buds. It can look like bread or it can look like cookies, cake, or even ice cream. You can eat it because it's what gives you the fuel your body needs to remain alive and functional or you can eat it because it tastes so good. 
       Unfortunately, far too many people eat the bread with lots of sugar and other unhealthy additives because it tastes good. Mea Culpa, mea maxima culpa. Spiritually, aren't we the same way? We don't want to go listen to another boring sermon telling us how to live our lives. We want excitement, humor, and drama added to improve the flavor of our religion. We want our theology to put us into a diabetic coma or to leave us drunk with emotion. If there's no sugar, where will the high come from that will motivate a brief frenzy of activity before we crash back into lethargy? Plain theology is tasteless and hard to chew. At the very least we need to add emotional grease to make it to make it slide down a little easier. 
          The Bread of God wasn't easy to chew or swallow. Oh, His words might have a sweet flavor when He said "love" and "forgive," but as soon as you start chewing on those, you find out they are tough nuts and seeds. The sweetness seems to drain out when you're commanded to submit and to suffer. Sanctification isn't saccharine. A constant diet of the same old bread, day after day... ask the Israelites (as paraphrased by Keith Green in "So You Want To Go Back To Egypt")

And in the morning it's manna hotcakes
We snack on manna all day
And we sure had a winner last night for dinner
Flaming manna soufflé

And in the morning it's manna hotcakes
We snack on manna all day
And we sure had a winner last night for dinner
Flaming manna soufflé

Well we once complained for something new to munch
The ground opened up and had some of us for lunch
Ooh, such fire and smoke
Can't God even take a joke? Huh? NO!

...

What? Oh no, manna again?

Oh, manna waffles
Manna burgers
Manna bagels
Fillet of manna
Manna patty
BaManna bread!