July 09, 2024 - Read Online​

In the middle of the Lord's Prayer stands the famous line "give us this day our daily bread."

We have all heard this phrase before.

If I were to ask you what "give us this day our daily bread" means, what would you say?

Until only recently I would have said it meant that we were asking God for the stuff we need to live. Asking for the essentials.

But there is a deeper, more profound meaning here. More than asking for essentials - this simple line reveals a way to live well.

When I ask, from the heart, for my "daily bread" I am saying I will be content with only that which I need for today.

It means "I am ok with 'enough'." (Note that it does not say "give us 3 to 6 months of daily bread".

An important aspect of self-leadership is knowing when you have had "enough". This means setting aside the need to control the future.

You may think "I don't try to control the future" without realizing that you do. Most people do. We try and control the future in subtle, sneaky ways.

A simple test: before you do something ask, "what is my motive?"

Am I calling my friend because I want to make sure I still have that friend in the future?

Am I praying because I don't want to deal with something challenging?

Am I getting to work on time because I want to make sure I have a job next month?

Or am I doing these things because I am a good person who loves people and does the right thing at the right time?

We use a lot of energy to ensure we will be content in the future, often at the expense of being content in the present. And we don't realize we are doing it.

When the primary goal of our work is our self-preservation, it often leads to our undoing. C.S. Lewis wrote on this topic during the terrifying days of the Cold War in On living in an Atomic Age. He wrote "Nothing is more likely to destroy a species or a nation than a determination to survive at all costs.”

And so we come to the gift of the simple request of "our daily bread".

If all we sought was "give us this day our daily bread" and we let go of the need to control the future, we would be free today. We would be free to do what is right today. Free to be generous with our extra. Free to do good work for the sake of the people around us, rather than our future self.

Free to be the people we know we ought to be.

“The more you have of something, the less more of it means to you,” writes Yancey Strickler (Co-founder of Kickstarter).

Are we content with "our daily bread"?

Or are we:

Asking for more than our daily bread from our jobs?

Asking for more than our daily bread from our family?

Asking for more than our daily bread from God?

If so, we are harming ourselves.

This all came together for me while watching "Mary Poppins" with my kids a while ago.

In the scene, Mary is putting coats on the children before taking them on an outing. Michael says he doesn't want to go out, he wants to continue the fun they were having at home.

Mary says, "Enough is as good as a feast."

Enough is as good as a feast.

Let's enjoy the feast today.

I hope this helps!

-Dave

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