DAILY BREAD by Frank G. Tyrrell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 24, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 47.

DAILY BREAD.

By Frank G. Tyrrell

Not cake, or pie, or any other stomach-disturbing, dyspepsia-producing pastry, but bread—light, nourishing, healthful bread—is what these bodies need, and they need it every day, and at every meal. No difference how elaborate the menu, the most sumptuous banquet would be incomplete without bread.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” “I am the Bread of life.” What did Christ mean by saying that He is the Bread of life?—He meant that, as bread is necessary to keep life in the body, so He is necessary to keep life in the soul. We feed upon Him by faith, and by daily studying His character and imitating His life. We find a clear and accurate conception of Him, not in sermons or commentaries, but in the Divine Word.

The Bible is like the oil and the meal; we may feed upon it daily, but it never grows less, neither do we tire of it. We soon have enough honey, and condiments grow flat and stale, but did you ever hear of the man who had enough bread?

Study the Bible daily; it is the most wonderful collection of books the world ever saw. The poetry and history and biography of your library may touch the heart and sway the judgment and move the will, but when I want a literature that has moved and moulded humanity; a literature that brings joy for grief, smiles for tears, love for hate, virtue for vice, light for darkness, life and immortality for death and decay—when I want such a literature, give me the Bible.

Think of the power that inheres in the divine Word. In the beginning the Word of God drew back the black curtain of chaos, and poised planets and stars on their turning-poles, set their satellites, and appointed their orbits. All the splendors of creation are but tokens of the power of God’s Word.

But it is in redemption and salvation that its omnipotence is revealed. And it is this most glorious theme that evokes our greatest admiration, and calls for the most sedulous study. It is this that prompts the prophet to exclaim, “Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Jer. 15: 16.

—Frank G. Tyrrell.