Food Banks

In recent months in the UK something new has been happening in many of our communities. Those who have plenty have been donating food to Food Banks, where those who can’t afford to buy food for themselves may be given free food to support their families. It is a fact that the world recognises the need everyone has for their “Daily Bread” and when others have none, people are willing to help those who are desperate. Food is essential for our health and strength.

When Jesus said that man cannot live on bread alone, however, He wasn’t saying that physical food is unimportant, but He was saying that there is another kind of food which is just as, or even more, important - the food which supplies our health and strength for the inner being. This food is the very Word of God to mankind. We may not be able to physically live without physical food, but we cannot REALLY LIVE without the spiritual food of God’s word. It is the key to life.

The Word of God is like a Food Bank for the Soul. Just as physical food costs the donor so that the recipient can have it for free, the message of the Gospel cost God everything when Jesus died on the cross, so that we, the recipients of His love, may have the food which transforms our present life and prepares us for eternity, absolutely free!

One of the tragedies of our fallen world is that most people do not recognise their need of the good things that are lying there in the Food Bank for the Soul. May I urge you to treasure highly the food that God has made freely available and make it part of your daily spiritual diet. Look on your daily reading from the Scripture as something like opening a can of truth from God’s Food Bank and let it feed your inner being and transform your life one day at a time.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for Your Word - the Food Bank for my soul. Help me never to forget how precious this free gift is and to always value it as I think about all that God has provided for me at His own great expense. In Jesus` Name, Amen.