Our Daily Bread

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/05/daily-dependence

In raising children and even in training subordinates, our goal is to make them independent from dependent. They start by being dependent on us, especially our children, but as they grow older and more mature, we want them to be more and more independent, capable of making their own decisions and earning their own living.

But with God, our relationship progresses from independence to daily dependence. That is why, in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray that our Father in heaven gives us our daily bread. Bread signifies our sustenance, the food that we require to live life, and it’s a daily thing. There is a sense that we are asking God to help us continue living by helping us to earn our living, or as we toil the land, we get our produce and fruits. But there is also the sense that our relationship with God is one of dependence. The more mature we are as believers, the more dependent we are on Him.

The more mature we are, the more we need to pray for our family, our cell group, our church, our work, our ministry, our city, and even our country. We should start off each day with a prayer, committing our day to Him, that our life will reflect His glory. That we will do His will each day of our lives. There is a sense that we need Jesus every moment of our lives. It’s not shameful to need Jesus because indeed our relationship with Him is one that progresses from independence to dependence, total dependence.

The message today is clearly that as believers, we must be more and more dependent on God. We can not live lives that are independent from Jesus. Jesus must be a part of every aspect of our lives; be it when we wake up, our commuting to work, when we work, our lunch break, our time with our family and we retire to bed. Even in our dreams, we should involve Jesus so that we don’t end up dreaming ungodly dreams! As we grow spiritually, involve Jesus in more and more areas of our lives. Then, the second aspect of our daily bread will become real, which in turn will bring the first aspect into greater tangible reality!