Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread. 

Matthew 6:11

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he included the statement to 'give us this day our daily bread.'  For most Americans, we would see this as an irrelevant point.  Most of us have not had to worry about when or where our next meal was coming from.  However there is a sad fact that 13 million children live in a home with limited access to food, and that nearly 3,000 seniors die each year due to malnutrition.  Not in third world countries, but here in the United States.  And even more disturbing that that is over 75% of Americans are not attending church services regularly, making them spiritually malnourished. 

Lack of spiritual nourishment internally influences our thoughts, responses, and even our vision/dream.  It is impossible to have the mind of Christ without a daily relationship with God.  Eventually the visible evidence of a lack of proper spiritual diet appears.  A lack of proper spiritual diet in private will show in your demeanor, attire and your countenance.   And if all we get from God comes from across a pulpit, once to three times a week, we are definitely not getting enough spiritual nourishment.  

Rev. Carlton Coon, Sr. once commented on "What a strange diet we follow, Sunday is feeding day, a time to spiritually gorge.  Masses gather at the Biblical buffet, picking and choosing that which sets the taste buds fluttering. Monday starts a six day fast during which nothing remotely spiritual enters our mind....living as though Jesus said 'Give us Sunday our weekly bread'...Daily living requires that we eat Monday through Saturday just as we do on Sunday."

Friends, spiritual malnourishment can only be cured by following Jesus' example and seeking that Daily Bread.  Let me encourage you today, to begin a lifestyle of seeking that daily bread.  Develop a new habit of daily prayer (longer than before) and of reading your Bible.  Prayer & the Word provide fresh spiritual energy and are the most important basis of a proper relationship with Christ.