Giving Thanks to God for Our Daily Bread

In reflecting on the meaning of Thanksgiving and our need for
thankfulness, I considered a portion of Christ’s example
prayer found in Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily
bread.” The inclusion of this idea in our daily prayers tells us
several important things.

First of all who does the giving? It is God who gives us the
food we need for life each day. This verse tells us that we
cannot exalt ourselves by saying that we, apart from God,
produced the food or that we earned the money to buy the
food. Apart from God, there would be no daily bread. In
essence, we must acknowledge our dependence on God.

In that Matthew 6:11 speaks of “this day our daily bread”, our
expression of thankfulness and dependence on God is to be on
display on a daily basis. We are to ask God each day that He
would continue to extend His mercy and grace toward us in
order that we would have our daily needs met.

For most of us reading this, we know that God has provided
for us on an everyday basis. Food is so abundant in America
that it is possible to take it for granted and not acknowledge
God. God knew this is a common human tendency and gave
us admonition in regard to our acknowledging God for the
good things that He gives us, "So it shall be, when the Lord
your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your
fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and
beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good
things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did
not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant —
when you have eaten and are full — then beware, lest you
forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:10-13). We must
never forget that God is the one who provides for us every
day.

Finally in thinking of our daily bread, we also realize that we
must look beyond the physical to the spiritual. God inspired
Moses to write about this issue in Deuteronomy 8:3, “So He
humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna
which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He
might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone;
but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
the Lord.”

This verse was quoted by Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:4 when
He was desperately hungry and being challenged by Satan.
Christ teaches us that even though He was hungry, it did not
justify putting physical sustenance before God. The lesson is
that we are more than physical human beings who need food
every day in order to live. We also need the spiritual food, the
word of God, which our Father in heaven supplies for us each
day.

Consider each day as you offer up prayers to God, how God
has answered your prayers to provide both physical and
spiritual food.

May you have a bountiful Sabbath,

Gary Smith

Election Results:

On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, the mid-term elections were held. As the election drew near, it appeared that there was a high percentage chance that the Republicans would retain control of the House of Representative and had a high probability of gaining the majority in the Senate as well.

As the polls closed and the election results began coming in, it was clear that the Republicans would increase their majority in the House and that they would have a majority in the Senate as well. Not only did the Republicans increase their power at the Federal level, but they also took control of a number of governorships and state legislatures.

Discussing the midterm elections Wednesday night, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer told “Special Report” host Bret Baier the Republican victories were “the worst wall-to-wall, national, unmistakable, unequivocal shellacking that you will ever see” and a “nuclear explosion.”

He also said, “Was this really a subtle result? Was this sort of complicated and nuanced? This was the worst wall-to-wall, national, unmistakable, unequivocal shellacking that you will ever see in a midterm election, and it happened on just about every level. You’ve got in the House the Republicans now have the largest majority since 1929.”

With the change in the majorities throughout the nation, there was great jubilation among a portion of the electorate. However, the losing side immediately began to focus on the next election and what they were going to do take back the House and Senate.

The political war that rages in our nation will continue and sadly nothing much will change. If you are keeping tabs on politics, note the hope of change that exists today and see if there is real change in the months ahead.

While we can be aware of the political changes, but we, as Christians, cannot put too much stock in them. Our focus must on something much bigger. They should not represent our primary hope.

Psalm 146 is quite direct about whether we should put our confidence in human leaders.

“Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever — Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146:3-10)

• We are not to put our trust in princes because they are limited in their abilities and insight.
• Instead, we are to put our trust in the God of Jacob who has the power and ability to give us every good thing in life.

Human rulers come and go, but our God reigns forever.

Have a good Sabbath everyone.

Gary Smith