Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Begging for Bread

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.  Once I was young, and now I am old.  Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.  Psalm 37:23-25(NLT)

I have heard these verses used (and perhaps misused) more than a few times.  Most of the mis-use is a matter of greed.  Prosperity Gospel preachers often quote this as an assurance that putting your trust in God will mean much more than you’ll never run short of what you need; rather, it proclaims you’ll have abundance, having all you want!  And never seeing your children begging is the proof.
Well, I did see a Christian child begging a few weeks ago after worship service.  As I went to the table to retrieve my communion set one of the children had waited for the moment.  He met me at the table, looking like one of those Hummel children, eyes big and round, as he stared at the bread and asked quietly:  Can I have some more?
Now, I know this child, and he is well-fed and loved.  I suspect his “begging” wasn’t because there is too little food in the house; he just liked the taste of the sourdough loaf I picked up at Food Lion.  And since he was so quiet, almost timid in asking … the very first time in his 4-plus years he was quiet about anything … I also suspected he wasn’t quite sure what that ol’ mean preacher might do if he asked for the holy bread.  I took the moment to teach him something, I said:  Of course, you can have all you want.  Just remember when you eat, this bread is a special gift to us from Jesus, so you should smile when you eat it, and always share it with someone else.
Later in the day I remembered the asking and felt good that I had been able to seize the moment to pass along an important truth to the next generation.  Then it struck me that my young friend taught me as much as I hoped I’d taught him.  Here’s why; when a child is unsure, often they hesitate.  This chance meeting at the table was planned, timed, and purposeful; my little friend wasn’t uncertain at all; he knew what he wanted! 
Now, I’m not foolish enough to think a 4-year-old understands very deeply the metaphor of grace, bread, and the body of Christ sufficiently to write a seminary paper, but asking for more of what he’d just been given as the Body of Christ given for you, on some level at least, meant he wasn’t afraid to ask for more of Jesus.  Had he been mystified, afraid, or repulsed in any way he wouldn’t have asked.
And so, my little friend’s asking became a new set of queries for me:
·      Am I that bold in asking for more of Jesus?
·      Am I willing to put aside my shyness and ask like a trusting child?
·      What can I do to make our worship space a safe place, so God’s children want more of Him?
There’s an old Gospel song that comes to mind with these questions:
More of you – more of you,
I've had it all, but what I need - just more of you.
Of things I've had my fill, and yet I hunger still,
Empty and bare, Lord hear my prayer for more of you.[2]
For You Today
I have it on good authority that when you want more of Him, you’ll get it … and you’ll never have to beg for that bread!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
[2] MORE OF YOU (1977) Words by Gary Paxton, Bill & Gloria Gaither; Music by Bill Gaither

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