Don’t Beg For Bread

Imagine with me, for a moment, a beggar. He’s on the street corner, begging for coins, or food, or anything you’ll give him.

That’s a sad picture, isn’t it? We all hope never to be in that place.

But what if I told you, that beggar you’ve imagined, had been invited to a banquet. There would be all the food he ever needed, for as long as he needed. And it is completely free.

Yet, despite the invitation, the beggar is on the streets, begging for bread.

Let me tell you something: you are that beggar.

All you need has been provided

Just like that banquet, Christ has provided everything you need, in himself.

He saved us off the streets of sin. Except we weren’t just living on the streets, we were dead. The penalty for our sin is death, a price we cannot pay.

So God did. He sent his son, to die for us and pay that great price. Not only did he save you, he adopted you into his family!

Sometimes we get so desensitized to that truth. But God, who is perfect and holy, took you off the streets, where you were dirty, and disgusting, and made you his son or daughter. He gave up his son for you, so you could be perfect and clean in his eyes.

And even that isn’t all!

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

Everything we need, the acceptance, identity, love that you crave, has been provided in Christ. He has a good plan for our lives.

You’re still begging for bread

We all have something we look to for satisfaction.

Maybe it’s marks, money, or people’s acceptance of you. It could be getting a new car, friends or enough likes on Instagram.

Anything that you think, “if I could just get this thing, I would be happy”– that’s what you’re going after to satisfy you.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: that thing isn’t going to satisfy you. Satan likes to lie to us, and say that it will. It won’t, though, just like the scraps of food aren’t going to satisfy that beggar.

Sure, it might satisfy for some time. Even food scraps can make you full for a little while. But it is never going to be enough. The beggar is going to have to keep begging for more and more. Likewise, the things of this world won’t satisfy you, no matter how much you think they will.

Except you don’t need those things. Remember? You’ve been given a banquet. Everything you need has been provided in Christ. Despite how it feels, you don’t need those things you look to. Christ can satisfy you perfectly, so you never need anything else.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:13-14

When you catch yourself going to other things to give you worth, remember you are a Child of God. All you need has been satisfied, so you can rest in Christ.

Rather than begging for bread, go to the banquet that will satisfy you.