Post from Pastor Tim – Last week, I wrote that our eating (in addition to everything else we do) is worship, and we need to properly understand this before we can share our bread.  I ended the blog post with these words,

As my family eats our meals this week, we are going to ask ourselves the question – “What does it look like to share our bread so that each meal we eat endures to eternal life?”

Here are some thoughts from this week of reflection . . .

• Thankful Attitude – This is not only a good reminder for our children, but also for me.  At every meal I must examine my heart and see if I am truly thankful.  This attitude is a good sign of whether I recognize that our food is from God.  Our church is memorizing John 6:1-14 which is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand.  In this passage, Jesus challenges Philip to see whether he recognizes that the provision of food is from the Lord and not from his own hand.

•  Family Meals around the Table – There are numerous health, emotional and financial benefits to eating a meal at the dinner table and CNN is just one of the many outlets to document this.  But have you ever thought that there might be spiritual implications as well?  In the Old Testament, meals were connected to covenants (Gen. 26:29-31, Ex. 24:11), religious ceremonies (Lev. 7; 10), fellowship (Acts 2:42) and to the Lord’s table in heaven (Luke 22). To put it simply, when you eat family meals, you are mirroring important Biblical principles to those you share your table with.

• Being Ready to Share our Bread – I am convinced that a huge part of Sharing our Bread is being ready to do so.  I love the story in Genesis 18, where Abraham hosted the Lord.  Abraham was a “man on a mission” as he went about preparing a meal.  Abraham wasn’t caught surprised, but he was prepared to share his bread when called upon.  I believe that we can do some simple things to make sure we are also prepared.  For example, we are going to start packing an extra snack in our kid’s lunches in order that they can share with someone at school.  At home, we are going to start setting an extra plate at our dinner table to remind us to be ready at all times to share our bread.  We are also going to carry a little money with us, so that we are ready to share as God leads us.

• Share our Bread – There are some families that seem to have an open door in which people flow in and out all the time.  We are not that type of family!  We do enjoy having people over, but it doesn’t just happen . . . we have to make an effort to do so.  And in the busyness of life, it’s easy to find that no one has been extended an invitation to dine at our table.  Last year, we shared our bread with family, friends, neighbors and strangers.  This year we hope to do the same, but with a greater emphasis on mirroring Christ to all those we share our bread with and with a greater commitment to have someone at our table at least once a month.