People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4b
Bread is something we eat daily, maybe some of us replace it by rice, potatoes, corn flakes or noodles, but we all eat a solid food as one of the main things that keeps us from falling over. When we are small, we are told not to eat candy or cookies before dinner, because it will spoil our appetite. I always wondered about that. If I have no appetite, does it not mean I am satisfied? So I don’t even need to eat, because I’m not hungry. So what’s the problem?
To spoil the appetite may feel like the need to eat is gone, but actually it doesn’t mean that the feeding process is finished. An appetizer at a wedding is often seen as a appeteaser. It’s a one-bite-snack that keeps you around until the real buffet opens. If you eat too many of those, yes indeed, you will spoil your appetite. Picture this: We sometimes go to an all-you-can-eat-ribs-restaurant. You can literally keep ordering ribs all night. But before they bring the ribs, they make you wait and give you a basket with olives with bread and spicy-oil. NO! Not this time, I will not fill up on bread, I will push through and eat three, nay! four ribs tonight! The smell of ribs is oozing through the restaurant and you are ready to eat. But you’re still waiting. The table next to you just got their ribs and they look amazing! You look at the breadbasket for the 19th time and give in. You eat the bread. They won. Again. You eat two ribs as usual.
If we read Jesus’ words here and see that we shall not live by bread alone, He tells us that we need spiritual food too! We need Gospel-Word daily! We need God-Truth daily! We need Spirit-Thoughts daily! All these can be found in the Bible. Reading the Bible daily stays a challenge for a lot of us. But we need to eat! If bread would be the food-form of daily Bible reading… And we don’t eat… How come we are not starving? We settle for cookies. We fill up on appetizers, and we ruin our appetite.
If we only eat cookies and not the meal with veggies, meat and potatoes. We may feel filled up. We may feel satisfied. We may feel in good shape for a short while. But we get no nutrients. No proteins or vitamins. Only carbs, carbs and carbs. Maybe some chocolate too. I feel full after cookies, no need for broccoli.
For me cookies can be:
– A quick prayer without thought to start the day.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
– A podcast during an early drive.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
– Listening to some christian music.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
– Reading just my devotional book.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
– Quickly browsing through my daily-devo-mail.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
– Opening my devotional-app, but getting distracted by messages.
*Instead of reading my Bible.
Cookies are fun, yummy and special. They make you feel good.
But.
Cookies are not a meal.
People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4b
Recipes of Hope 
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