“He will make us broken bread and poured out wine.”

I think the first time I heard that was a couple of years ago, in a song in The Salvation Army Songbook, written by General Albert Orsborn – “My Life Must Be Christ’s Broken Bread”. I understood the words well enough, but not the concept. What did it mean?

Then it began showing up in my morning reading of “My Utmost for His Highest”, by Oswald Chambers. If you’ve read Chambers at all, you know it takes more than one reading to get what he is saying. He really makes you think! I’m in my third year of reading from My Utmost every morning, and this concept has finally begun to make sense to me.

The sole reason for Christ coming to the earth was to die in our place, and rise from the dead in resurrection power. If He had refused to do that, He would have defeated the whole purpose for coming.

As born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the Body of Christ. Just as His body had to be broken for us, and His blood shed for our sins, so we must be broken bread and poured-out wine. If we refuse to allow God to do that, we are no use to Him.

A loaf of bread is no good to anyone until it’s broken and given someone to eat. And wine is no use until it’s poured into a cup and given to someone to drink. All that God gives me and does for me is not for me alone. I must be the broken bread and poured out wine that will benefit His other children.

To go back even farther, wine can only be made by crushing the grapes. This is not something we can do for ourselves; God does it. He knows when we are ready, and how to go about it. We may not like His timing or the means He uses to do it, but His way is exactly what we need.

In Chambers’ words, “We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.”

“My Life Must Be Christ’s Broken Bread” – by General Albert Orsborn

“We are not here to dictate to God; we are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. When we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine to feed and nourish others.” – Oswald Chambers