Day 16: Mar. 20
God Gives Bread
from Rolf Svanoe, Bread for the Journey
Some of my earliest childhood memories are when our family gathered to eat. The table was set, the food was prepared, and all eight of us were gathered. The first thing we did was pray. Only after we said our prayers could we eat. I don't remember how all eight of us fit around the table, but I do remember what happened after the meal. We got out our Bibles and read through a chapter.
I remember sitting impatiently, waiting to go out and play with my friends. But it was important, and we did it, even with all the grumbling. We fed the body; now it was time to feed the soul. My parents were impressing two things on me at a tender age: It is God who provides our food, and food alone is not enough to give meaning to our lives.
It's easy to forget that food comes from God. Luther once said, "God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that God will help us to realize this and receive our daily bread with thanks." We need help to remember that. After all, we work hard, earn our money, buy food at the store and take time to prepare it.
Why should we thank God for it? The author of Deuteronomy tried to answer that question as the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. "Do not say to yourself, 'My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to our ancestors, as he is doing today." (Deut. 8:11-18)
When you buy bread, what do you really pay for? You pay for the farmer, seed, tractor, combine, and truck. You've paid for the storage time in the grain elevator and the mill that grinds the grain into flour. You've paid for the bakers and the ovens that baked the bread. You've paid for the truck driver who delivered it to the store. You've paid for the person to stock the bread shelves and the clerk to check it out. But what have you paid for the bread itself? Not one cent. It is God who sustains our lives and gives us strength and creativity to work and earn money.
There was one other thing the author of Deuteronomy was concerned about. He worried that in the new land the Israelites would forget God. They would settle into their homes, get rich and be comfortable. They would be so busy making a living they would forget to make a life with God.
"God humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deut. 8:1-3)
Thankfulness is essential as we travel through Lent. Let us be thankful for bread and for every word that comes from the mouth of God.