Such a short, yet important, verse. We looked at it once already, on the 4th day of Lent. Bishop Wohlrabe does a nice job of drawing out the meaning of our Lord's words in the Lord's prayer. "'Give us,' gracious God, because without you we are nothing and have nothing." A reminder today that life is a gift not of our own doing or sustaining. "'Give us today' just one day's provisions. Keep us from fussing about tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." How many of us need to hear those words today? "Give us." Not give me. "Give us." This is not a prayer only for my needs, or those closest to me. This is a prayer for everyone in the world, all created by God, all given the gift of life. Sometimes I hear people say, when it comes to feeding the hungry, "Shouldn't we take care of our own first?" This sets up an either/or kind of response. We should help certain people, but not others. But I prefer a both/and response. All people need daily bread, regardless of where they happen to live. So I'm grateful that our hunger program, supported by our donations, works both near and far to assist all God's children in receiving the daily bread essential for life.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
The 8th day of Lent- Matthew 6:11
"Give us this day our daily bread" Matthew 6:11
Such a short, yet important, verse. We looked at it once already, on the 4th day of Lent. Bishop Wohlrabe does a nice job of drawing out the meaning of our Lord's words in the Lord's prayer. "'Give us,' gracious God, because without you we are nothing and have nothing." A reminder today that life is a gift not of our own doing or sustaining. "'Give us today' just one day's provisions. Keep us from fussing about tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." How many of us need to hear those words today? "Give us." Not give me. "Give us." This is not a prayer only for my needs, or those closest to me. This is a prayer for everyone in the world, all created by God, all given the gift of life. Sometimes I hear people say, when it comes to feeding the hungry, "Shouldn't we take care of our own first?" This sets up an either/or kind of response. We should help certain people, but not others. But I prefer a both/and response. All people need daily bread, regardless of where they happen to live. So I'm grateful that our hunger program, supported by our donations, works both near and far to assist all God's children in receiving the daily bread essential for life.
Such a short, yet important, verse. We looked at it once already, on the 4th day of Lent. Bishop Wohlrabe does a nice job of drawing out the meaning of our Lord's words in the Lord's prayer. "'Give us,' gracious God, because without you we are nothing and have nothing." A reminder today that life is a gift not of our own doing or sustaining. "'Give us today' just one day's provisions. Keep us from fussing about tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." How many of us need to hear those words today? "Give us." Not give me. "Give us." This is not a prayer only for my needs, or those closest to me. This is a prayer for everyone in the world, all created by God, all given the gift of life. Sometimes I hear people say, when it comes to feeding the hungry, "Shouldn't we take care of our own first?" This sets up an either/or kind of response. We should help certain people, but not others. But I prefer a both/and response. All people need daily bread, regardless of where they happen to live. So I'm grateful that our hunger program, supported by our donations, works both near and far to assist all God's children in receiving the daily bread essential for life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Such a simple scripture with such a powerful message. I also liked Bishop Lawrence's info that Martin Luther's last words were "we are beggars"...because on our own we are nothing. Something else that the Bishop said will also stick in my mind: this is a "we" petition, not a "me" petition.
ReplyDelete