Give us this day our daily bread.

John 6:22-42 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. ²³ Other small boats came from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” ²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to Him, “What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” ⁴² And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

In the prayer Jesus taught us to say, it says:  … Give us this day our daily bread… In today’s text, it says:  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” So they said to Him, “What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing?  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”  Just as the Israelites had to go out and seek the manna daily, we need our daily bread; we need Jesus every day. We need to come to Him. We need to meditate on the word daily to know what he said. We need to delight in His presence; to pray and to listen, to know what He is saying. In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus says:  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. … Give us this day our daily bread…

In the text Jesus says:  “I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  It is not enough to only believe about Jesus, we need to believe in Jesus. Romans 10:9 says:  If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. It is not enough though just to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. If we believe in Him, our actions will also testify that He is Lord. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  If we believe in Jesus, if He is Lord, then we cannot continue to practice lawlessness. In Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  It is not God’s will that we should know the woe of evil, darkness and bitterness, but God gives us a free will to choose for ourselves. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says:  Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  God’s will is that we will see Jesus; that we will believe in Him and come to repentance; that we will not only call Him Lord, but that He will be the Lord of our lives.

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.  ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’  Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I believe.  Amen.