June 12, 2013 (Wednesday)
Yesterday’s blog was changed a little bit after it was published and I read it again later in the day. The phrase that was revised had said something like, “I no longer live from day to day.”
When the blog was “hot off the press,” in my mind that meant, “I am thankful that God supplies my financial needs.” Reading it cold, many hours after publication, it seemed to say, “I no longer depend on the Lord to supply my daily needs.”
So I changed it. I just deleted the whole phrase, because no matter how I worded it, it didn’t say what I wanted to say.
Why do such simple choices of words make a difference? Because when Jesus gave us a model prayer, he taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He wanted us to pray in such a way that we would recognize that whatever we have is ours for today by the grace of God. He wanted us to avoid the mistake of the “rich fool” who bragged to himself about his storehouse of rich supplies for the future, seemingly with no thoughts at all of the goodness of God and His generous provisions.
Jesus’ desire that we depend upon God for all our needs is reflected in the Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Charles Spurgeon is quoted as applying this idea to our dependence upon God: “We need, oh, what do we not need? We are just a bag of wants, and a heap of infirmities.”
Yes, we have all kinds of needs. God is asking us to depend upon Him to supply them all, and to give Him all the glory when those needs are met (Philippians 4:19).