Daily Bread

Highschool biology has opened up a new world to our family through the microscope.

Recently, my daughter had to examine active yeast cells, and we all took turns ooohing and ahhhing over their beauty.

When I make bread or pizza dough, I never take the time to gaze in wonder at the yeast doing its work. I just accept it as an assumed part of our daily lives. I didn’t know beauty was there until the microscope revealed it. 

God’s Word functions like the microscope, bringing attention to His beauty and truth in the ins and outs of our daily lives. 

This week, I read Romans 6:17: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

The teaching of Christ transforms our daily lives in every moment. Instead of contempt, we can choose compassion. Instead of anger, we can choose patience. Instead of despair, we can choose hope. The microscope of Romans 6:17 brought to light the beauty of Christ’s transformative teaching in each decision, each interaction, and each word.

It’s like the letter “e” on your keyboard. If you have used your keyboard for any length of time, your letter “e” will be shiny when you look at it from a distance. “E” is the most commonly used letter in the English language, and every time you press it, the key becomes a little shinier. Just for this paragraph, I used mine 38 times. 

I take that little “e” for granted, but its constant use proves its beauty and necessity. This is like the teaching of Christ, or doctrine, that we accept and follow as believers. 

It’s easy to push thoughts of doctrine aside. Leave it for the scholars, we may be tempted to think. However, Paul urged the Romans to be obedient from their hearts to the righteousness espoused by the doctrine of God’s Word. It was the opposite of living as slaves to sin.

This week, as I helped my little guy search for his lost glove for the billionth time, I needed to push the “e” key again, remembering the doctrine that says, “Love is patient. Love is kind.” At the same time, in Africa, my husband ministered to a Zimbabwean pastor who provides for his ministry from his own farm. He exercised, “Love is patient. Love is kind,” as he listened, fellowshipped, and prayed. A young woman from our church pressed the same “e” key as she worked at a nursing home, loving the residents and enduring the jabs of co-workers. A man and woman in our church urged their children to choose to follow the Lord, against the tide of cultural onslaught they face at school, clinging to the very same doctrine.

We take it for granted everyday, but the yeast at work in the daily bread is beautiful, and it is effective.