Provision & Gratitude

I remember years ago watching “Leave It To Beaver” and how Ward Cleaver (the Dad) was the provider and June Cleaver (the Mom) kept the house all day and had dinner ready for the family when Dad came home. It soon became normal for both husband and wife to work to provide for the family.  So as parents, my wife and I are “providers” for our family.  The longer I live, the more I realize that I’m not really the provider, the Lord is. He provides opportunity for us to work and earn money to have food, shelter, and clothing.  This principle of God’s provision is obvious as Jesus once again, feeds a large crowd with a small amount of food. Check this out…

⁶ So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. ⁷ A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

⁸ They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. (Mark 8:6-8 NLT)

I was reminded of the Lord’s provision.

I was also reminded that Jesus gave thanks for the food – gratitude.

I grew up asking the Lord to bless our food, but I’ve now added gratitude for the food to my prayer before eating. It’s easy to forget how blessed we are to have more than enough food for each meal. I have food in the pantry and the refrigerator.

I want to give thanks for my food and ask God’s blessing on my food today. It is fuel for my body. I believe that the proper perspective on my food (His Provision and my gratitude) will help me avoid taking it for granted.

Pressing On!

Dwayne