Matthew 6:11

“Give us today our daily bread.”

When I prayed with our children at night (they are all young adults these days) one thing that always made the list was, “Thank you, Lord, for supplying all of our needs today.” That’s a word my children misused a lot – NEED. I catch myself doing the same thing from time to time. I need this. I need that. This begs the question: what do we really need, anyway?

Food. Shelter. Clothing.

What about a bigger house? Don’t need it. A nicer car? Don’t need it. An X-Box 360? Don’t need it. A nice vacation cruise? Don’t need it. A bigger TV? Don’t need it. The new iPhone? Don’t need it.

Get my point?

Obviously, for most of the people living when the New Testament was written, the thought of a refrigerator or a pantry to store the next week’s food supply in was unheard of. How long could YOU survive on what is in your house RIGHT NOW? Man…are we spoiled or what?

When I was in Thailand back in 2010 I was off the grid – no running water, no electricity, and living in bamboo huts. Every meal was picked and/or killed right beforehand. Sometimes it was the chicken running under the hut or over my sleeping bag in the middle of the night. One time it was the monkey tied to a post (yuck). Those wonderful people relied on God to supply their daily bread, and so did I. It was a valuable lesson, to say the least.

So what’s the take away for us well-fed American Christians? Remember that every morsel comes from Him. You have the job, but He provided it for you. You have the skills needed to do the job, but He gave you the raw material. We need to acknowledge, on a daily basis, that we DO rely on God to provide our daily bread.