Is The Light On At The House Of Bread?

Is The Light On At The House Of Bread?

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (KJV)

We sing about the little town of Bethlehem and Micah even says that in the sense of earthly importance it is just a small city among thousands. Yet, it and its inhabitants and in a sense its cemetery is mentioned often in Scripture

Look at the dignitaries buried at Bethlehem – Rachel (the favorite wife of Jacob), Ibzan (a judge), Naomi, Obed and Ruth who are in Jesus’ blood line, Asahel – Joab’s brother killed by Abner, Elhanan son of Dodo.

King David was born there and once desired water from one of its wells and used it as a drink offering to God because his men risked their lives to get it. Rehoboam rebuilt the city. Indeed a small city but an important one.

Matt 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, (KJV)

The most important birth of all time took place in this small town and powerful men traveled great distances to bring gifts to Him. Oddly, these men were not Jews. The most Conservative sect of the Jews knew where the Messiah would be born but they had given up looking for Him years ago.

It would seem that many Christians have done the same today. We celebrate the birth of the Lord, but not in the right way and many of us do not seek Him daily in our lives and some have lost hope of His return.

The name Bethlehem means house of bread and it is appropriate that the Bread of Heaven would be born in town with such a name. Manna sustained the life of those in the wilderness for a short time, but this bread would sustain the soul for eternity.

My Senior Pastor, the Head Deacon and his wife love Krispy Kreme® doughnuts. Having alma maters in North Carolina and having lived in South Carolina I am well acquainted with these treats. They are still fairly new in Texas. These new fans of Krispy Kremes® were talking the other night about when the light is on at the bakery that means the batch is fresh from the oven.

Though it was not December 25th, on that night in Bethlehem the Bread of Heaven was freshly prepared for the world and His light was on in and above the house of bread. No earthly bread ever had the advertisement of angels that this heavenly bread had as they gloriously told the shepherds of its availability and its nutritional benefits.

Unlike carnal bread that gets stale and moldy or even the manna that would spoil if someone tried to hoard it this Bread would be fresh every day and served in many ways feeding many different people until the day it was broken for our sins on the Cross. Some would relish the taste of this bread like my Pastor does those doughnuts. Others would be glad to partake of its benefits but would not see anything special in the Bread and thus miss its eternal value only caring about the temporal. Others would disdain the Bread thinking it ill prepared and not even bread at all. They would cast it away to their own damnation thinking they had ripped it to shreds and disposed of it in the trashcan called a tomb not knowing that unleavened though it was that it would rise again to feed men everywhere until the end of time and beyond.

Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (KJV)

While bread is the mainstay of many cultures, the devil could not tempt Christ with earthly bread. While He was hungry after a forty day fast, He knew what really sustained life and that was the Word of God. How foolish to tempt the Bread of Heaven, the living Word of God with that which is far inferior. Man worries so much about the bread that he eats to live and yet dies but is often starving for he does not eat of the bread that will allow him to live forever. Even those who have partaken of this bread miss the abundant goodness that it would bring to them because they eat it sparingly and inconsistently.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (KJV)