The bread of eternal life, the core substance that we need to become what we aspire to become, is in the person of Jesus Christ: His Atonement, His suffering for sin, and the resultant capacity to extend mercy. He can heal and forgive and cleanse anything. I don't think everyone realizes that when we do sin and we turn away from God, it does something in us. And when we repent and turn to Him, that effect in us is taken away. With His Atonement, we become different people than we would be without it. And its power is infinite, truly infinite, and can reach down and sanctify and make holy to the uttermost any soul.

There's a purpose in life far beyond living comfortably. The bread we receive is to enable us to act and help and serve. Not only are we helping, but we're being blessed and helped and changed. We're not transformed, as you know, overnight. These things come in process of time. Their changes are incremental, and people don't see them until they look back--see where they are, as opposed to where they were. Just as I learned not to expect immediate deliverance from a problem, He's also saying, "I'm patient with your progress. I'll just help you along day by day." And all of that truly does add up to a dramatic change and eternal difference.

When the Israelites finally did cross the Jordan into their promised land, they were expected by God to remember Him, to think of Him, to look to Him, to have faith in Him. As we turn to Him each day and remember Him each day, we come to know by experience that He's real and that He does care about and love us and is minister to us, just as He did the ancient Israelites, because He is the bread of life.