The Layman Foundations of the Faith
Give us this day
Robert P. Mills, Posted Monday, Jun 3, 2002
Suggested Scripture Readings: Exodus 16; Matthew 6:11; 6:24-34 |
“All I want,” I told my friend, “is God’s detailed five-year plan for my life.”
“God doesn’t work that way,” my friend replied, adding “he only shows us the next step.”
I knew that. And my friend knew that I knew. But, wise and experienced pastor that he is, he also knew that we often minister to other Christians simply by reminding each other of what we already know.
The reminder my friend offered is rooted in the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Scholars debate whether this phrase is better translated “Give us today our bread for today” or “Give us today our bread for tomorrow.” In either case, the meaning is essentially the same: As Jesus’ disciples we are to ask God, each and every day, for what we need to get us through the day.
Manna in the desert
God’s daily provision for his people is a theme that runs throughout the Old and New Testaments.
The Israelites escaped the Egyptian army by crossing the Red Sea on dry land then watching as the waters returned and drowned their pursuers. Immediately afterward, grumbling about a lack of water, they were led to a place “where there were twelve springs” (Ex. 15:27).
When they began to worry about food, “the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day’” (Ex. 16:4). Despite this instruction, some tried to keep a bit overnight. When they awoke the next morning, the manna they had stored “was full of maggots and began to smell” (Ex. 16:20).
Like the Israelites in the desert, many of God’s people today need to be reminded that, even if it takes a miracle, God will give us enough to get us through the day. We also need to be reminded that God’s provision cannot be hoarded. Rather, his grace is new every morning.
Lilies of the field
Jesus also reminded his followers of God’s willingness and ability to care for them:
“You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. … Look at the birds of the air … See how the lilies of the field grow … seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:24-34).
Commenting on this passage, James Boice gives three reasons why Christians should not worry about God’s tending to their daily needs. First, we cannot serve God while questioning his ability to take care of us. If obtaining food and clothes becomes our primary concern, and if we see our own earnings as the only means to meet these needs, we will inevitably find ourselves serving money, not God.
Second, concern that God won’t meet our needs overlooks God’s provision for the rest of his creation. The God who cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field is also able to give us all that we need. Those who don’t believe this, Boice notes, “are really slandering God in regard to his wisdom, knowledge, power, goodness, and providential care.”
Finally, since God has created and redeemed us through the work of Jesus Christ, does it really make sense to worry that he won’t take care of us? As Boice puts it, “The future is in God’s hands and will be managed perfectly by God whether you worry about it or not.”
Give us this day
Reflecting on the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Gregory of Nyssa observed “God says to you as it were: He who gives you the day will give you also the things necessary for the day. Who causes the sun to rise? Who makes the darkness of the night to disappear? Who shows you the rays of light?”
Having given us the day, God is more than able to give us all we need for the day. Indeed, having given us life itself, God is more than able to supply all our needs all our lives.
When we are tempted to worry about what we will eat or wear, we would do well to remember that Jesus did not teach us to ask God to give us all at once everything we think we might need for the next five years. Instead he taught his disciples to pray “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Additional Resources William Barclay, The Lord’s Prayer (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998); James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew: Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001); Jan Milic Lochman, The Lord’s Prayer (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990). |