Give us today our daily bread- This request is there to constantly remind me of where all of my provisions are coming from-my sovereign creator and Father who owns and supplies everything, even my very breath. I am self-employed and when I look at the cash flow it is scary but I have come to realize that there isn't much correlation between what it looks like we will make and God's provision for our needs. Another word we have just about lost is Providence. It is such a rich term from our christian heritage. It is almost like the Jewish term Jehova-jirah which tells a whole story about God's provision every time you say it. Our Father not only provides our daily sustenance but also reaches down to provide our means
of righteousness in our case through the death of His Son in my place. Of course this is related to that next phrase:And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors-I believe this is not so much meeting a condition so I can be forgiven as it is a shameful realization that I own nothing to hold against anyone else. That's why Jesus tells to give sacrificially-to realize that I own nothing materially And to forgive unconditionally-I don't own but am owned. I am a willing slave of a perfect Father who will always take care of me. Recognition of this helps me to deny my flesh and to not take things personally. Since I am not a person just a lowly slave I can rest in finding my identity in Him. "He must increase and I must decrease."
1 comment:
I like your cartoon. How real it now seems.
(Just wrote to let you know someone reads your infrequent writings.)
Ray
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