I have been thinking about the prayer Jesus gave His disciples (The LORD’s Prayer) and I’ll be writing a bit more about what is contained in it over the next weeks, but today I want to look at just one part.
In our backyard are six evergreen trees. Winter, spring, summer and autumn they are filled with little birds. The birds call them home. About six feet away sits a platform on the fence that Bob has set up as a bird feeder. We go through a lot of bird seed each year, especially in the colder months. During some seasons we only need to replenish it about twice a day, other seasons require much more.
The birds always minister to me. They sing. They sit on the top branches and enjoy the sunshine when it hits the trees. They flock to the safety of the inner tree when they sense danger nearby. They hold on during the wind and remind me that “A bird can sing on a branch that swings because she knows how to fly!”
Lately, however, they’ve reminded me of how Jesus told us to pray. “Give us day by day our daily bread.”
The birds are not panic-driven. They know when the sliding door opens in the morning that they are about to get a fresh supply. They tweet at us and sing and grow louder and louder as we get closer and closer to their feeder. When we walk back and shut the door that is their signal to flock to the feeder for their fill.
This same scenario plays out multiple times during the day. They know we are bringing them their “daily bread” and even before it hits the feeder, they are serenading their thanksgiving.
We are dependent upon God for our daily bread. Not just physical bread, although our supply and resources are based solely in Him for everything we need, but also for our daily spiritual bread. The birds remind me to come to Him each morning for everything I need – both in dependence upon Him and thanksgiving to Him.
Daily Bread!
