days of praise: daily bread

With the holidays in full swing, so is consumerism. Today in church Pastor Aaron said he'd read something to the effect of: only in America do we trample people to get more stuff right after a day devoted to being thankful for the stuff we have. Sadly, our thankful hearts can quickly ache for more..that new piece of electronic equipment, that great deal, it's always something bigger, (although not necessarily in size), and better. Commercials inundate us with the latest and greatest at a low price and we forget that we are supposed to be thankful, grateful for what we already have.

In truth, the Lord promises to provide for our every need, not our every want. And this often rubs us the wrong way and we feel as though the Lord is withholding. We want it all, not just enough for now, but enough for tomorrow, next week, next year. We want our storehouses full, overflowing with stuff. We too often look for satisfaction in the stuff, but stuff will never satisfy and we find ourselves in a constant state of aways wanting more.

Give us this day our daily bread.

-Matthew 6:11

Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6, setting the example of praying for our daily bread. Praying for only for that which we need today. To be content and satisfied in knowing that enough just for today is enough. Today I was also reminded, from Pastor Aaron, that worry puts us in the future, while thanksgiving keeps us in the presence. So, by receiving each day our daily portion we remain thankful, content, dependent upon him.

This whole idea of daily bread was a reality for the Israelites in Exodus 16 when the Lord rained down manna each night and in the morning they were to collect only enough for the day, (except on the sixth day when they were to collect enough for the Sabbath as well), and not save any of it until the next day. Those who disobeyed and saved some of their manna until the next day found their manna maggot infested and stinky.

How often do we store up so much stuff that it goes bad, gets rusty or even outdated before we can use it? What would it look like to live for our daily bread, no more, no less? How would our gratitude and thanksgiving reflect the change?