By David ReayWednesday 14 Mar 2018LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Read Matthew 6:11
11 Give us today our daily bread. (NIV)
At the end of the Second World War, civil authorities in Germany were swamped by thousands of orphaned children. They were bereft of family, often sick, and always hungry. The authorities fed them but noticed that the children usually went to bed crying and anxious. It seemed that they were frightened that there would be no food for them the following day.
Someone got the idea of handing each child a small loaf of bread. They took the bread with them into their beds, so assuring themselves that there would be food the next day. Just as they were sustained that day, they would be sustained the next day. Sleeping with bread was a reminder that they were safe.
This phrase in the Lord’s Prayer tells us that we ask God for what is necessary each day. Some translations actually say that it is asking God for bread, or necessities, for the ensuing day. Either way, we are reminded that God cares for us and that we are to ask him for what we need. Some of us are quite happy to concede that God has looked after us today, but what about tomorrow? Will the supply of his grace and power somehow run out?
Each day, we ask God to sustain us. Each day we remind ourselves that he who was faithful today will be faithful tomorrow. We sleep, not clinging to a loaf of bread but to his promises.
Blessings
David Reay