Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:11

Men are called to work, work is not a sin, it is part of the nature of who God created them to be, even Adam worked. Adam had a small advantage, which he lost, that he never had to toil during labor. A farmer plants a field, yet weeds grow and choke out his wheat, and rain never comes to water his seeds, or birds come and eat the seeds from the ground, toil. Our labor today sometimes feels futile, this is toil.

This passage is about provision, not labor, but we labor for provisions… or do we? We can beg for provisions, and obligate people for provisions without laboring, this is sloth, also a sin. We could obligate the government to take resources from others and give it to us, or we could just take from others by force, this is theft. When a man labors and toils for provision, he’s doing it from a position of love for God, family, and community, to give and satisfy needs, but that provision is ultimately from God, all provisions are from God.

Under the Keynesian economic theory states that the government is the source of all wealth, I totally disagree. The government can move wealth around, but it doesn’t create wealth. God, creates wealth, he creates wealth in the hearts of His people. All wealth originates with God, he created the resources, he provides the rain for the crops, he controls the infestation of disease and pests, he allows the farmer the health and energy to harvest his crops and take them to market. God gives the miller the resources and ingenuity to build a mill, to mill the grain. God gives the baker the insight on the bread, which he sells to us. God gives the workers the motivation in their heart to labor, even if they don’t acknowledge it.

When we think of provisions, we must first see God’s providence, for without that invisible hand, there is nothing. God is working in the hearts of men to labor, this is a good thing to work hard. It is a good thing to have a vocational calling, it’s not just a job. A vocation, no matter how humble it is, is a required vocation, a dirty jobs that someone has to do, is a bedrock of our society. Happy people are more productive, they create more wealth, they create more resources, but it is God who makes this happiness.

Give us this day our daily bread, we must always thank God for his provisions. We need to thank him for every breath we breath, for every step we take, for every thing we do, because he allows us to do it. He allows the kernel of Corn to grow to a stalk, which has ears of corn for our nourishment. When we sit to eat, we should always thank the Father above for the provisions he gives us. We are so blessed.

Lord, you provide everything I have, there is nothing you don’t provide. And Lord, you provide what I need, not what I want. Lord help me to trust on you for my provisions, and not try to control my destiny. Help me to trust each day for the daily bread you give me.