Give Us This Day…
By Roger ~ May 6th, 2004. Filed under: Religion.
Last night after our pastor relayed an outline of the mission he just returned from, he challenged us to rely on God for our daily bread. I thought I’d talk a little about that here. I want to preface by saying I’m not a good theologian. I haven’t been to seminary to Bible college like many people I know and communicate with throughout a normal day. So, my thoughts and observations are almost as base as you can get.
Daily bread. The children of Israel depended on it during the exodus out of Egypt. The woman who fed the prophet what she thought was the last of her meal depended on a daily blessing of meal from God lest she and her son die during the famine. The woman whose child was possessed relied on “the crumbs that fall from the master’s table”. The deciples were taught to pray “give us this day our daily bread” by Jesus.
How many of us actually acknowledge a reliance upon God for our daily bread? We do, in actuality rely on Him, but do we think about that on a daily basis? I rely on my car to get me to work daily, but I don’t daily say “man, my car brought me to work again. Thank you car!” The same way, I personally am neglectful in thanking God daily for the necessities of life, for awking yet another morning, for making sure there is food for breakfast. Sure I bought the food, but God made sure I had the money for it. I forget to thank God on a daily basis for the blessing of salvation, for the gift he gave on the cross, for the hope of my eternal soul.
Shame on me.
May 6th, 2004 at 11:46 am
I was thinking on this some this morning, Roger … that while I have put a lot into the job that I hold, I am so blessed to have it. I have parents who passed on native intelligence and a love of learning [plus good genes], I had my school paid for by scholarships, and I had a friend who helped me get this job. While I am no determinist, I am aware of the small scope that I’ve had in the matter, and in fact, I still owe my very life to the One who created me.
May 6th, 2004 at 12:07 pm
lately I’ve been trying to pay more attention when I thank the Lord for meals. That’s the easiest area to get into the habit of mumbling meaningless prayers.
May 6th, 2004 at 1:12 pm
Geof: I’m glad I got my point across. You seem to have summed it nicely, too.
Brian: I agree completely. The kids at the church all say the same, quick prayer over meals, but I don’t think they think about what they are saying. I am better at actually thanking God over my meal than other areas in my life. I got sick of hearing the rote meal prayer so decided a while ago to make it sincere. Hopefully its not becoming too common again, though…
May 6th, 2004 at 8:36 pm
It’s funny you mention the rote meal prayer, since it is so easy to say what’s expected, the “good Christian thing” instead of what you truly feel. I’ve noticed it can be like that when my wife and I pray together at night, too. I’ve been struggling with spiritual authenticity lately, and between your post and the Derek concert we went to this past Sunday
, I’m starting to realize I’m not alone in this…
May 7th, 2004 at 8:30 am
“…and of these things I repent”
Thanks for reading Andrew.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
[...] you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet BoxRoger mused on this some earlier, and I want to expand on what I said in my [...]