Matthew 6:11 (New International Version)
Give us today our daily bread.

Since Chuck and I moved to the DC area, we’ve been looking for a good grocery store. In Florida we went to three different stores: Publix on Atlantic in Pompano Beach, Publix on McNab in Fort Lauderdale, and (you guessed it!) Publix on Federal in Lighthouse Point. Here we’ve been to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Giant, Target, Safeway, and Wegmans. One has great frozen food, but not much of a fresh veggie selection. Another has amazing vegetables, but none of the toiletries we use. Yet another one is close by, but super expensive. Great overall selection, but too long of a drive. Good prices, but disorganized and erratic stocking. Terrific cheese display, but terrible parking. And we haven’t found anywhere yet that has really good Italian bread.

Picky, picky, picky!

While wandering the aisles recently at the “great overall selection, but too long of a drive” store, checking items off my long list, I thought about today’s section of The Lord’s Prayer. The New Living Translation renders it this way: “Give us today the food we need.”

I know it has been a while since I last posted, so here’s a review of what we’ve looked at so far in this beautiful prayer given to us by Jesus. We started by acknowledging the fact that God is Holy and deeply worthy of our respect, love, and reverence. Then we asked for God’s presence to be made fully manifest in our world. You might think that after those declarations, Jesus would move the next part of the prayer even further into the spiritual. But, instead, he addresses our very physical needs: “Give us this day our daily bread.” God’s love and provision aren’t meant only for our souls. God loves us: spirit, mind and body.

“Give us today the food we need.”

The food we need. The amount of food each of us needs to survive/thrive varies depending on age, height, gender, activity level, metabolic rate, etc., etc., etc. There are charts, diagrams, and computer programs to calculate what your intake needs to be for you to have sufficient energy to get through the day. You can figure out what you need to eat to gain or to lose weight. We do need food. And yet, for many of us, food is a joy, a struggle, a blessing, and a temptation all rolled up into one yummy package.

It’s easy for me to be annoyed that I can’t get all my groceries in one place. And yet I can get all my groceries. With just a little effort I have the ability to purchase all the food I need. I can (and do) even get plenty of stuff I don’t actually need. This short verse reminded me of the incredible gift of having food readily available, and of having the funds to pay for it.

But it also reminded me again of how many people in our world don’t have access to the food they need. And of how many men, women, and children in our own community don’t have the ability to purchase the food they need.

At my church in Virginia, we’re doing a food drive right now for a local food bank. … I’m going grocery shopping again, but not for me.

Questions…
What food is currently in your kitchen or cupboard? What is in there that you don’t really need? What do you need that you don’t have? What ways are there in your community to help out people who don’t have enough food?