Monday, March 27, 2006

Bread

Wherever the words of Jesus echo in the Old Testament scripture I always take a closer look. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord? Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30: 8-9. This reminds me of the Lords Prayer when Jesus instructing us how to pray say’s “Give us today our daily bread.” Matthew 6: 11. For me it is quit clear from scripture that we are not to pray for more than we need. Continuing in chapter 6 of Matthew, Jesus teaches that we are not to worry about tomorrow concerning what we are to eat or drink or what we are to wear. He ends his comparison to us with the lilies of the field: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows you need them. Matthew 6: 31-32. Please beware of wrong teaching. Jesus compares the pursuit of material possessions with paganism. It is of the world and not of God’s kingdom. King David also assures us, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.” Psalm 37: 25-26. My favorite scripture concerning wealth and poverty comes from the Apostle Paul and should be our attitude as well. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13. May the presence of Christ be with you and me.

3 comments:

X-Evolutionist said...

Hi Gary!

Thank you for visiting my MSN space and for commenting on my birds. I sure love my pets!

Your blog is great!

Yes, Brother Lawrence is a hard act to follow. But, it's a life to try to live up to, isn't it.

X

http://spaces.msn.com/x-evolutionist

Andii said...

Hurrah!
"Please beware of wrong teaching. Jesus compares the pursuit of material possessions with paganism. It is of the world and not of God’s kingdom."
An important piece of advice in this context. Thanks. I do get concerned that people seem to want to claim their daily bread and more without considering the implications for the wider world and society. For example in the book "Praying the Pattern", it is pointed out that for all the world to have prayers for daily bread answered at the wealth level of USAmericans would take 5 planet earths...
see http://abbeynous.schtuff.com/

Karuna said...

Hi Gary, very nice thought. Its true that we've moved away from our real agenda, to win people into the Kingdom of God. Instead, we've gone to try and fulfil our own needs we're so full of ourselves that we seldom see what we could do for others and how we could bless them.
Nice blog.
God Bless.