Broken Bread

by Monica Huffer

 

Close your eyes and  imagine the miracles the apostles had stored inside their memories. Peter walking across water, like a toddler testing the foundations of the world for the first time. Jesus asking for food to feed thousands when only a few pieces of bread and a couple fish could be found. The anxiety of telling Jesus there was no food or money to nourish the people He lovingly looked upon. The fear of worrying He would rebuke you for not understanding, for not being or having enough. The grace and wonderment of seeing Him take the minim and multiplying it beyond belief. Do I want to multiply bread? Yes. The answer is, and will always be, a resounding yes. I want to stand at the throne of God and have miracles pour out of my hands knowing it’s only possibly because He died to send His Spirit and have it dwell within my bones – to give life more abundant and brilliant than what could ever be imagined.

But sometimes I long for a physical miracle and miss the true miracle of Jesus. Sometimes I want the gift and forget the giver. The truth is Christ is the living bread. To take communion is to remember this facet of His being. He broke His bones wide open before us and freely let each be crushed beneath our sin in order to infuse ours with everlasting life. He poured the Blood of His life into a cup to let us taste the only sacrifice strong and pure and righteous enough to shake the scales of sin and death. He is broken Bread, multiplied without end for each one who calls out in starvation to be filled with His nourishing presence.

While I delight in the ability to multiply physical bread and feed grumbling bellies; my soul is starving for Christ to take root in my inner being and teach me to crush my bones for the starved and drain my veins for the lost. I want to be broken so those who feel broken can be healed, so the works the Lord allows me to do in His name are expounded without end for His glory – crying out Holy is the King who made a way.

We may be amazed by miracles, but we are made for servitude. Not a forced servitude, bound in chains to a cruel master; but a chosen service to the one who set us free and whispers beloved promises from His throne. A servitude where the more you work the less weary you become, the more you give of yourself the more there is to give. A servitude where joy is the standard and miracles are commonplace, because you walk in the light of the King – a light able to raise the dead and give sight to the blind. A servitude where five pieces of bread and a two fish feed five thousand with twelve baskets leftover.

Jesus promises in Matthew 10:39, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Each one of us has felt the tug of the world. The desire to cling to our lives, regardless of the death awaiting at the end. I’m my short life, I’ve realized the compassion of Christ to this plight. He rejoices in every freewill offering, every small piece of our lives we lay before His throne. Start with a prayer or scripture or decision to lay down fear and take up hope in Him despite what you see and are told about the world. If you give what you can for the day, the Lord sees and multiplies your offering into an abundance. An abundance of joy. An abundance of strength. An abundance of healing. If you haven’t made Christ Lord of your life, ask Him to take root in your heart. Ask to be emptied of the world and filled with His Spirit. Ask to be taught from His endless stores of wisdom and knowledge. Ask for faith to move mountains. Ask to be surrounded by people who can encourage and help you. Seek all these things and you will find them. Seek Christ and you will find life – a life of multiplication, no longer bound by years or the strength of your hands, but unrestricted and higher than the grandest imaginations of men. A life where multiplying bread is as simple as sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.