I remember going to the store as a kid and often asking if I could have a toy or at least some candy. I asked every. single. time. I was certain those were things that I needed. But in fact, they were things that I wanted. There is a difference in the two but as Americans, I’m not sure we understand that concept.
Jesus is teaching us how to pray in Matthew 6. As Christians, we know prayer is an essential part of our daily life. Since God is our father and we are his children, we have this close, personal relationship with him. He wants to know what’s going on in your life whether good or bad. He wants to hear our requests made to him. So, one of the lines of provision in prayer is found half-way through where Jesus prays, “Give us today what we need today.”
As I think about that line, there are so many things that come to mind. I think about close-to-home moments that we are effected by each day. When we have bills we can’t pay, we need enough of an income to cover those debts. During this economic downturn, we need food for the table and to be able to make it stretch. For that newly divorced parent wondering how they will provide for their children. For the home owner whose repair bills are piling up. For the recent retiree hoping they have enough to last. For those with health concerns and those whose marriage is hanging on by a thread. There seems to be so many different things we need today from our Heavenly Father. It calls us to two types of living as followers of Jesus Christ.
As believers, we must have a commitment to dependence on God. Truly, God owns it all anyway. We are simply managers of the blessings he gives us. We must trust him to provide and have faith that he will not leave us alone to figure it out.
Take the Jews during the Exodus story. They have left Egypt but are not in the Promised Land yet. They are wandering. They began to complain that they had nothing to eat. So God sends bread from heaven. They called it “manna”. They woke up each morning and there is was all over the ground. God told them to pick up just enough to feed their family for one day. If they picked up more, there would be worms in the bread the next morning. It was God reminding them to depend on him for what they needed on a daily basis.
Jesus even goes on in Matthew 6:25-34 challenging us not to worry about tomorrow. It doesn’t add one hour of peace to your life when we worry. Jesus says to focus on today. God has your back. He won’t let you down. We can trust him to give us today what we need.
But we are also called to be committed to be content with our life and what God gives us. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 that we should be content with what God gives and that in itself is a great wealth. When we trust God to provide, it moves us to be satisfied. We end up worrying less and grateful for what we do have in our life.
See, instead of focusing on the Bread of Life, that’s Jesus, we get distracted by the toppings. We want wealth, Instagram popularity, a big title on our office door. We get consumed with our kids and what sporting team we can get them on. We get sidetracked by physical relationships rather than a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
But Jesus reminds us in John 6 that he is the Bread of Life. He will sustain us. He will make sure we are taken care of every day. We are called to put our trust in him for our needs. I’m called to let go of control, to give up my life, and know we serve an incredible God who knows me by name and my story.
The challenge today is to live one day at a time knowing you can fully trust in God to provide for you. He’s got your back. He won’t let you down. Blessings on the journey.