Good Bread, Bad Bread

"My bread of life is a marijuana leaf."

This declaration came from a man at our poker table Monday night, well after we brought up the piece of matzo we used for a card protector.  We had said Jesus was the bread of life, based on John 6.  This man's somewhat flippant follow-up came as a surprise -- but he had a different point to make.

"If God created the universe and He made marijuana, then there must be a reason for it....?!"

This topic actually goes back to the beginning of the Bible account....

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food."  And it was so. - Genesis 1:29-30

We admittedly haven't studied the chemical makeup of marijuana over the years; we accepted the warnings in our youth about how dangerous it could be, and avoided it.  But hemp is a seed-bearing plant -- and we admitted to the man the variant cannabis might have medicinal benefit in moderate amounts for some hurting people.  (We haven't studied that to be absolutely sure, however.)

But as we consider this discussion, two thoughts come to mind.  The first one obviously involves the man's idea that a psychoactive drug can be a "bread of life."

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. - Isaiah 55:2-3a

This is an invitation from God to those who are spiritually thirsty (verse 1).  Looking to fill who some have called a "hidden hunger" in your life with drugs or alcohol may bring temporary relief, or what Hebrews 11:25 calls "the pleasures of sin for a season" -- but not a long-term answer.  Jesus described a far better bread....

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. - John 6:51

This leads to our second thought.  We accepted the warnings adults gave us about marijuana -- but other people obviously don't.  They choose to take a chance and experiment, a bit like poker players trying out different strategies in free tournaments.  By doing that, they repeat one of the Bible's earliest lessons:

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"  "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.  "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." - Genesis 3:2-5

Mother Eve in the garden of Eden had to weigh two conflicting sets of advice.  She chose to go against the guidance of her Creator -- and the rest of Genesis 3 shows the bad consequences which began to develop for humans from there.

When you're having fun at a poker table with nothing to lose, that's one thing.  But when it comes to an item which can affect your body and mind such as marijuana, that's very different.

Why take a chance with a bogus bread?  The true "bread of life" named Jesus may seem bland and boring, but it's the diet which leads to eternal life in God's kingdom.