Our Provider

As I write this I am eating a $1 Sausage Burrito for breakfast from McDonald’s. I just stopped in and off I went. If I am honest I didn’t really think about the process at all until I started to type. The burrito and hot sauce journey to my mouth went something like this.

·        I jumped out of my bed that is in my house.
·        I got dressed in my clothes and then scraped the windows on my car.
·        I drove my car to my McDonald’s and bought my burrito with my money.
·        I walked on my legs into my church and went to my office.
·        I am now sitting at my desk, typing on my computer while I eat my burrito.

I am hoping that what you received while reading about my “burrito journey” is that on my own I can easily think that I am the owner and creator of my life. This is a problem for all of us as we forget that it is all a provision and that I am not the creator. I am the recipient of the breath I just took, the fact that I can walk, the fact that I have a brain and hands that allow me to type and hold a job. I am blessed by God to have a family and a Church.

My quick breakfast and our petition for this week can bring us back to the basics and we need that every day!

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

I want to point out five key points from this brief sentence in the Lord’s Prayer.

1. We see our total dependence upon God from top to bottom.

Luke 12 22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

2. There is an emphasis on TODAY and a freedom that comes through not living in past failures or future concerns.

Psalm 68 19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.

3. A deep confidence in God is at the heart of this simple statement.

Hebrews 4 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

4. Behind the words is a spirit of gratitude.

Deuteronomy 8 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

5. Finally, we are united as we recognize our corporate need as well as our call to care for each other.

John 13 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So, my $1 burrito has delivered a great deal for us to consider today!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Nick