Man’s Selfish Quest for Earthly Possessions

(a meditation on Luke 12:16-19)

Luke 12:16-19
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

The agricultural setting and terminologies of this parable perfectly fits the situation in Jesus’ life and time. Undoubtedly, the images Jesus presenting to His audience were understandable to them because Israel was largely a rural and agricultural community. So what’s the point of this parable?

The parable can be divided into two sections. Each section contains one major point. Each point is derived from the action of each character mentioned. The two characters are the rich man (v. 16) and God (v. 20). The division would be: (1) the rich man’s selfish quest for earthly possessions (vv. 16-19); and (2) God’s solemn judgment of man’s senseless life (vv. 20-21).

The first section tells us of man’s good agricultural harvest (v.16) and his boasting about the kind of life which he can enjoy as a result of his great material success (vv. 17-19). The second section, however, gives us a sad picture of man’s destiny in the hands of God who will demand a reckoning of his life. This second section is notably marked by the contrasting word ‘but’.

The Rich Man’s Selfish Quest for Earthly Possessions (vv. 16-19)

The point of the first section of the parable is not to show the readers that acquisition of material wealth is sinful, nor to remind them that good stewardship of one’s wealth is wrong. The Bible itself does not condemn money or any earthly goods. What is ‘foolish’ in the rich man’s action was his selfish or covetous pursuit of acquiring wealth.

Covetousness is surely a sin, a breach of the essence of the tenth commandment that says, “You shall not covet.” This surely hinders one’s relationship with God for as Paul says in Col. 3:5, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: ... covetousness, which is idolatry.” A selfish quest for wealth is indeed idolatry for it draws man away from God unto mammon.

Greed also destructs one’s devotion to God for as Paul again warned Timothy in 1 Tim. 6:10 that, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Indeed the rich man in the parable is preoccupied with self and his quest for more wealth for selfish indulgence. This is obvious by the text’s repeated use of the personal pronoun “I” and the words ‘relax, eat, drink, be merry,’ which also imply a kind of life void of godliness.

In general, the point here, as one author puts it, is that, “A purely selfish accumulation of possessions is incompatible with true discipleship.” The problem with this man is that, in his great material success he did not bother to ask, “How much shall I give to the cause of God?” Nor did he inquire, “How much of this shall I give to the poor?”

Let us always remember that everything we call our own comes from God and they belong to God. He gave them to us in order to serve Him and others better. One day we will give account to Him for the use of these things, whether money, talent or gifts.

Jesus is saying, “If you want to follow me, you must be willing to give up the things in your hands. You must be willing to suffer loss. You must be willing to assume other’s loss and trust me to repay you. You must make me your greatest treasure in life and in death.”

Unless we accept this challenge, we cannot be true followers of Christ. Do you really want to follow Christ? You must be willing to die yourself so Christ could live and rule in your heart. Instead of striving for your self, work hard to help others as well, especially those who are in the family of God.

Giving up our pride is necessary to be able to consider others as important as we are. Sometimes as a pastor, I have the tendency to present myself as if I know a lot. The truth is, I don’t. There are certain areas that others know more than I know. Women know a lot about housekeeping, cooking and baking. I know very little. Our children know more about computers and how to use them than we do.

The world does not revolve around us. We are not the most important people in this world. We must therefore learn to give up our rights and privileges in order to serve others in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's use our time, our talent and our treasures not to boost our pride but in order to serve our neighbor and fellowmen. Give up anything Christ requires from you. Put Him first. Stop saying, “I will do this and I will do that so I can be happy.” Instead say, “If this is pleasing to the Lord and beneficial to others, I will do it.”

A meaningful and successful life is a life that obeys the will of God and cares for the welfare of others. Christ Himself exemplified this life by living and dying for the glory of God and the redemption of His people. God defines success in life. He is the judge who evaluates our lives. What kind of life do you live? God judged the man in the parable. God’s judgment of this man’s life is that it is a senseless life.

Keep On Praying!

(A magazine article by Vern Sheridan Poythress) For about fourteen years my wife and I have prayed that God would put a stop to abortion. For fourteen years we have prayed that God would end the persecution of the house churches in Mainland China. For years we have prayed for deep revival to come to our country. In all these cases, we haven’t seen much change. Are our prayers doing any good? Will there ever be an answer?

It is easy to give up hope if God does not answer our prayers right away. Jesus knew that we were prone to become discouraged, so he told the story in Luke 18:1-8. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”1

How Do We Respond to a Hopeless Situation?

Jesus tells about a widow who had every reason to give up. We must picture a situation where some wicked person has wronged a widow. Perhaps he had taken over her home and kicked her out.2 Whatever the details, the widow desperately needs help.

The woman’s situation looks especially hopeless for several reasons. To begin with, she is a widow. Without a husband, she has no steady income or shelter in social situations.

She is also legally insecure. In ancient Jewish society the man who headed a family or clan would normally handle legal disputes. He would be familiar by experience with legal matters, and would probably know the judge personally. But this widow has no man to represent her—no husband, not even a father or a brother. She has to go herself, without the experience or social leverage that a man would have.

Now the situation worsens. The judge to whom she goes is unjust.3 He cares nothing for her plight. Can the widow perhaps hope to persuade him nonetheless? She can point out to him that God threatens to punish judges who pervert justice.4 But no, the judge does not fear God.5 Or the widow can argue that the people of the town will despise him for not helping her. No, this stratagem will not avail either. The judge “neither feared God nor cared about men.”6 He is indifferent to human opinions about him. Can she appeal to the man’s conscience, and make him realize how low he has sunk? No, the judge is already well aware of his position, and admits it freely to himself: “Even though I don’t fear God or care about men ... .”7 The judge has so hardened himself that no human appeal can get through. Apparently nothing that the woman might say will have the least effect. There is no hope for a change.

Have you ever suffered through a situation as bleak as this one? Have you felt despair because there seemed to be absolutely nothing you could do? “Just give up,” the Devil tempts us. “Curse God and die!” Job’s wife says.8 Jesus understands how despair may sometimes grip us like an iron vise.

Amazingly, though everything is against her, the woman does not give up. “For some time he refused,”9 yet the woman persists. She continues to bother him, to pester him. Finally, the judge wakes up to his own selfish interests. He decides to give justice, but only because otherwise she will “eventually wear me out with her coming.”10 The woman gets relief because she persevered.

What Kind of Perseverance Do We Have?

Now what is Jesus’ point? He tells us to pray and not give up. God will answer. Jesus says, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”11

Jesus is making a comparison. The persistence of the widow is like the persistence that characterizes “God’s chosen ones.” The widow cries out to the judge to give her justice.

Likewise, God’s chosen ones cry out to God to give them what they need. After awhile, the unjust judge gave justice to the widow. After awhile, God will answer his people, the chosen ones. Jesus gives the parable to encourage “God’s chosen ones.” To them he says, “Don’t give up. Persevere in praying to God. He will do what is right.”

How Does God Respond to Our Prayers?

But this comparison leaves many people uneasy. “What?” they say, “Is God unjust and reluctant and in need of being pestered like this horrid human judge?”

Jesus assumes that we know enough about God to see the point of the comparison. The Bible indicates that God is both compassionate and absolutely just.12 Far from being reluctant, God is like a father eager to give his children good gifts. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”13

The comparison with an unfair judge shows how much more we can expect from God. If even an unfair judge can be persuaded, how much more can we expect God to answer us for our good? If even someone who has no love or care for us can decide to help, how much more will God respond to us in outpoured love? The Bible well expresses the depth of God’s love and commitment to us in Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”14 How tremendous a commitment God has made! We are to come boldly to God, knowing that he will answer us fully and compassionately. He has proved his faithfulness and eagerness to provide for us by giving the most spectacular gift of all, his own Son!

Note that these promises all come to God’s children, his “chosen ones.”15 Not all prayers are equally acceptable. Speaking to hardened, sinful Israelites, God warns, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.”16 For our prayers to be acceptable, we must receive forgiveness for our sins and be cleansed by the blood of Christ.17 Then we may have confidence that God loves and receives us even as he receives Christ his only Son.18

For What Do You Pray?

Is God’s promise to answer prayer like a blank check? No, even an earthly father knows how to give good gifts to his children. Not everything that a child asks for is good. A wise father takes into account the whole situation. How much more so with God our heavenly Father! We can be thankful that God in his wisdom does not always give us everything for which we foolishly pray. God must renew our hearts and minds so that we begin to pray for his goals rather than for our own selfish goals.19

The story that Jesus tells in Luke 18:1-8 points to the same truth. The widow in the story asks for a fair resolution of her case. Likewise, your prayer and mine should be for God to establish his righteous will.20 God answers such prayer: “his ears are attentive to their prayers.”21

But now we must understand God’s justice, his righteousness. God cares not only for just decisions in human courtrooms, but for what is right in every sphere of life. Every mean remark from a child, every social snub, is a violation of God’s righteousness. Every instance of right living and self-control expresses his righteousness. We are to pray for nothing less than the coming of God’s kingdom, the coming of his rule in all aspects of life. We pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”22 “Come, Lord Jesus!”23 Come and set things straight, wipe out evil, and make a new earth.24

God is so perfectly righteous that he cannot ignore sin. He showed his zeal against sin by the terrible punishment that he inflicted on sin when Christ bore our sin.25 We have only to look at the meaning of the cross to understand that God is utterly serious about righteousness, and utterly serious about punishing sin.

But the suffering of Christ issues in victory, in the glorious achievement of right when he is vindicated in his resurrection. “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”26

God now works out true righteousness in history as people submit to what he accomplished in Christ. He abolishes sin in the souls of abortionists and liars and disrespectful children alike as people submit to Christ’s rightful authority: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”27 Thus, we are to pray for all people everywhere to submit to Christ’s universal rule, to acknowledge him as Savior and Lord. We are to pray even for those who sin against us.28 This is His command.

God’s plan is to exalt Christ. We can pray no greater prayer. So we pray for revival. We persevere in true prayer when we understand this goal and yield ourselves to Christ in our praying. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.”29 We pray for Christ to come and bring his reign to completion.30 We plead for righteousness to come in our own lives, and for others to be saved and come to Christ. When we are praying for these goals, the goals of God’s own kingdom, we can have confidence. God himself tells us to persevere. He hears. He will accomplish his purpose in us and around us.

We do not know the details. We do not know how long we will have to wait for God to answer a particular prayer, like the prayer for persecuted Chinese Christians. We do not know just how he will answer. But we know that God is all wise and full of mercy and love. He has shown it through giving Christ. We can have perfect confidence in him. Keep on praying!

________________________________________
1 Luke 18:1 NIV.
2 Such a seizure apparently took place in the case of the Shunammite widow in 2 Kings 8:1-6.
3 Luke 18:6.
4 Deuteronomy 27:19.
5 Luke 18:2.
6 Luke 18:2 NIV.
7 Luke 18:3 NIV.
8 Job 2:9 NIV.
9 Luke 18:4 NIV.
10 Luke 18:5 NIV.
11 Luke 18:7-8a NIV.
12 Psalm 119:137-144.
13 Matthew 7:11 NIV.
14 Romans 8:32 NIV.
15 1 Peter 1:1; Ephesians 1:4.
16 Isaiah 1:13 NIV.
17 Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22.
18 Ephesians 1:6; John 17:26.
19 James 4:3.
20 Luke 18:7 NIV.
21 1 Peter 3:12 NIV.
22 Matthew 6:10 NIV.
23 Revelation 22:20 NIV.
24 Revelation 21:1-4.
25 1 Peter 2:24.
26 Philippians 2:9 NIV.
27 Philippians 2:10-11 NIV.
28 Luke 6:28.
29 Matthew 6:10 KJV.
30 Luke 18:8; 1 Corinthians 16:22.

This article was taken from Decision magazine, October 1998 [Published in Decision magazine 39/10 (Oct. 1998) 31-35]; ©1998 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Why Pray Persistently?

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" ~ Luke 18:1-8

When Jesus told this parable to His disciples what was the situation or occasion? In order to find that out we need to go back to Luke 17. In Luke 17:11, our Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem in order to suffer and to ultimately give His life for His people.

Crowds were following Him. Along the way He would heal the sick and answer people's question. In Luke 17:20 the Pharisees asked Jesus about the time of the coming of the kingdom of God. Of course, when they ask this question they were thinking of the coming of the Messiah, the overthrowing of their enemies and the restoration of the Davidic kingdom that will bring worldwide peace and justice. That was their interest in asking Jesus.

Jesus' answer, however, must have baffled the Pharisees who did not acknowledge Him as the Messiah, or the Christ of God. For in effect what He was telling them is that if their idea of the coming of the kingdom is the dramatic overthrow of the Roman authority, they will miss it, because the kingdom of God is already in their midst. Jesus Christ, the kingdom's king, is among them. And whenever He wins people's allegiance to Himself, His kingdom is established.

After dealing with the Pharisees, He turns to His disciples and taught them about the coming and the revelation of the Son of Man, that is, the coming judgment of God by the Son. The instruction to persevere in prayer fits in with this context, as Luke 18:8 also shows. The Lord Jesus told the disciples that the days would come when they will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but they will not see it (17:22).

Jesus, of course, is telling them about the time between His ascension and His Second Coming, when men would go on eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, oblivious of the condition of their soul and of the coming judgment, much as it had in the days of Noah and of Lot. And in one of those days, the Son of Man will suddenly come like lightning that flashes from sky to sky.

So Jesus warns His disciples not to be like Lot's wife (17:32). He is saying that in the hour of crisis you don't live like the world. You don't love the world. You don't turn back longing for the things of the world or you'll be unfit for the kingdom. In effect Jesus was telling us that eternal life hangs on whether you and I are ready when He comes again to judge the living and the dead.

This is the occasion or the setting when Jesus instructed His disciples with this parable. There will come a time after Jesus' ascension when the days will be long and the disciples will suffer persecution, opposition and injustice for the sake of the gospel while the rest of the world will be engaged in business as usual. In the midst of their suffering the disciples would long for Jesus' coming and it's not going to happen. What then are they suppose to do? How can they endure to the end?

This is the same question that we ought to ask ourselves. We know that Christ has promised to return and to take us to be with Him. But life is difficult, we know that. How can we endure to the end? How can we make sure that we don't become like Lot's wife, too much in love with this world to be totally committed to Christ? How can we resist the relentless temptations of Sodom and be desensitized to God's kingdom by the ordinary pressures of daily life?

Our days are evil. But the world tries to convince us that everything is fine or it will be alright. However, judgment in the days of Noah and Lot did not come simply because of gross wickedness and immorality. It also came because in the nice and ordinary activities of life, such as eating and drinking, God was denied. His law and His will were ignored. People took for granted every air they breathe and every meal they eat. They fail to thank God. They fail to recognize that every good gift comes from God.

So beware! The good things in life can make us just as insensitive to the reality of God as the gross things in life can. That’s why as disciples of our Lord Jesus we are left in a tremendous battle which most people don't even know is going on: the battle to maintain radical and self-denying faith in Christ.

This self-denying faith is not only needed in the threat of persecution and sinful temptations but also in the threat of ordinary home life and business life and school life which can numb all our sensitivity to God's eternal kingdom.

So the question is: How can we endure to the end? How can we remain faithful to our calling as disciples in this wicked and godless world? Jesus tells this parable to give us the answer. And His answer is quite simple, though not very easy to live out. He tells us in verse 1 that we ought to persevere in prayer, to always pray and not to give up in praying.

Have you noticed that prayer is not described simply as a duty as it is an absolute necessity? Verse 1 clearly says, "Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they SHOULD always pray and not give up" (my emphasis). Our Lord Jesus is not exaggerating here. Prayer, particularly persistent prayer to God, is indeed the antidote to our tendency to become complacent and impatient in the daily struggles of life.

We would truly desire to pray at all times when we understand that prayer is a humble expression of our absolute dependence to God. We would be encouraged to devote ourselves in prayer when we see it as the continual desire of the soul for God. Or as an old writer would say, we would be earnest in prayer if we view the whole life of the faithful as "one great connected prayer."

God's Faithful Provision - Part 2

Another meditation on Luke 12:22-31 and Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 50

There are times when we wonder, “Since God knows our daily needs and since He promises to give us those needs anyway, why then should we ask for them?” The Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 50 gives us reasons why we ought to ask God for those needs.

First of all, in asking God to provide for our daily physical needs, we are acknowledging that He alone is the source of our daily provision. By praying this request - "Give us this day our daily bread" - we are actually confessing that God is our faithful provider. As in the words of James 1.17, we are acknowledging that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

And we ought to pray this daily, just as we need to ask forgiveness for our sins daily. Yes, God has promised to provide for us and to forgive us our sins, yet He also expects us to plead for these things so that we are reminded daily that He alone is the ultimate fountain of everything good.

When we pray that God would take care for OUR BREAD we admit that God is the rightful source and owner of that bread. On our own we have no right to it, but by virtue of our faith-union with God's Only Begotten Son, the Father granted us the right to ask for and to access and enjoy it. As the Great Creator and Sustainer of all things, He is the true owner of everything in this world.

You must recall that immediately after the creation of Adam, God gave him all things. Adam was also given dominion over the entire creation, which he had the right to use in serving God as His Maker and covenant Lord. But you also remember that Adam lost that dominion in the fall. Because of his sin, he lost the right to all things, being rejected and disinherited by the righteous judgment of God.

Since then, no natural man, dead in his trespasses and sins, has any right, such as the children of God might claim, to the things of this world.

So the perspective of this petition is clearly the perspective of those who are recipients of the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. You pray this request as the children of God redeemed by Christ Jesus our Lord. Scripture tells us that all things are Christ's. He is the One Whom God appointed heir of all things, according to Hebrews 1:2. And through the blood of His cross He also reconciled all things unto Himself.

That means that before the face of God you and I have a right to the things of this world only when we have been united by faith to God in Christ. Unbelievers are usurpers of what rightly belongs first to God, then, in and through Jesus Christ, to us His children. Have you ever thought that way?

This truth must set us free then from being greedy or envious of others. In Luke 12.15, our Lord Jesus tells us, “Take care, and be on your guard against all kinds of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Since we also confess in Lord's Day 10 that all things come to us, not by chance, but from God's fatherly hand, we must be very thankful when God takes care of our needs.

I say this because there are times when we receive from God what we've been asking that we forget to thank Him or appreciate His kindness. There are times when we already receive what we prayed for yet we keep on grumbling or worrying, unsatisfied with what God has already provided. Oh, our sinful heart easily leads us away from God to focus on ourselves and the stuff of life. We easily fall into the trap of turning God’s provision into an idol.

But God's provision is intended not only to make us realize that He is the source of everything good. He also wants us to recognize that apart from His divine blessing, “neither our work and worry nor His gifts can do us any good,” as Lord's Day 50 puts it.

Let me cite one example. When God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt they failed to thank and love the Lord in return. Instead they grumbled and wished to return to Egypt. They've been crying out to the Lord for freedom from their oppressive Egyptian taskmasters. Yet when God heard their cry and brought them out of slavery, it did not do them any good.

Later, when God enable them to enter the Promise Land and enjoy the fruits of the vine they also forgot the Lord. They forgot to thank Him. They forgot to love Him back. And they failed to keep His law. Instead, they enjoyed the benefits of being in the Promise Land without seeking the favor and blessing of the One who, in the first place, has brought them there. They enjoyed the promises of God but they failed to keep His commandments.

Such is so common even among us. And we need to fight daily against this greed and materialistic tendency in us by the power of God’s Spirit. And so through this prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the Holy Spirit reminds us that it’s in God alone that we find ultimate satisfaction in this life. It is not in the material things that we have but in the fact that in Christ God has accepted us and adopted us as His children. And with that privileged status God has promised to provide. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Rom. 8.33).

When you and I fail to realize that it is in humble recognition that God is the source of all good things and that the way to receive and enjoy these things is through our Lord Jesus Christ, we may be the wealthiest and most successful person in the community yet we can be at the same time the most unsatisfied and restless person.

Until our heart finds satisfaction in God alone through His Son Jesus Christ, our worldly success and convenient life could not do us any good. In fact if all our effort are only aimed at success and convenience in this life we are just spending our time and energy on wrong pursuits which ultimately lead to frustration and destruction.

Jesus said to His disciples in v. 29, “Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.” He doesn’t mean, of course, that you should not work to earn your keep. He is but reminding us not to get worked up over food, clothing, shelter, even money. Let your Father take care of those things for you. He knows that you need them and He will give you those things at the proper time.

Do you know what you need to do? Do you know what you should be pursuing more in this life? See verse 31. You should be seeking the kingdom of God above all else. When you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” your focus should not be on the bread but on the Giver of the bread. You should be seeking His glory and praise in and through your obedience to Him.

The other goal of our praying the fourth petition in the Lord's Prayer therefore is to seek God's honor, God’s glory, "by giving up our trust in creatures and possessions and to put our trust and confidence in Him alone." In our old nature, we tend to think that we provide everything for ourselves and we own things ourselves. We make our livings. We earn our wages. We buy our food and all kinds of stuff. We buy pieces of land and we build our house. Why do we need God? That's our old nature.

The wise man in Proverbs 30 knows that. So he prays saying, “…give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (30:8b-9). We would be wise to learn from this prayer and to really believe it and seek to live it out.

As redeemed and adopted children of God, we pray, “Lord, thank You that You provide for our food and clothes and shelter. You care about those things. You even blessed us with many things that we can live without. Help us therefore not only to believe in Your promise that You would supply our every need but also to learn to put our confidence in You alone and not on ourselves nor on the things that You’ve given us.”

This is the kind of prayer that you and I ought to be asking God always. Our focus must be on God and His kingdom, that is, His righteous sovereign rule over us His people. We recognize that everything is from Him and by Him and for Him, even our possessions, and we must give a careful account for the use of these things.

The reason why God wants us to focus on seeking His kingdom is for you and me to be busy in living out the kingdom principles and standards in our daily lives – principles of righteousness and justice, love and mercy, grace and truth, joy and obedience, freedom and self-control. These are the stuff that we want to see more and more evident in our life at home, in school or work, in the church and in the community.

If you seek to live as a kind employer or as an hardworking employee this week, you will be concerned with truth, righteousness and justice. As you think of your role as a husband or wife, or thinking of how you can be an obedient child to your parents or a diligent student in school, you would never worry about what you would eat, or drink or wear. You would, however be thinking of how to express love to your wife or respect to your husband, or how to honor your parents or faithful to your employer.

If your life orientation is centered on pleasing God and doing what He commands you to do, you would not be worrying about the same things that many people in this world worry a lot.

SO, What is your life goal? Is it loving God and your neighbor as yourself? You will discover yourself that when your priorities are set toward the building of God’s kingdom, the Lord would grant you all that you need pertaining to life and godliness.

It doesn’t mean, of course, that all will be well all the time. But even in the most difficult and trying moment in your life, when your eyes are set on Christ, you would learn to trust God, knowing that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8.28). “Seek God’s kingdom,” our Lord says, “and these things will be added to you” (v.31).

May we never forget that the Lord’s daily provisions are intended not only for us to know that He alone is the source of all good things, but also for us to recognize that these things are for our comfort and motivation to put our trust in God alone. In Christ, He is your gracious Almighty Father.

God's Faithful Provision

A meditation based on Luke 12:22-31 and Lord's Day 50 of the Heidelberg Catechism

My family and I have the privilege which many of you may not have. We have lived both in an eastern third-world setting and in a western more affluent culture in the United States. While there are marked differences between these cultures in terms of socio-economic situation, both cultures are actually plagued by common challenges and problems. Whether you are in the Philippines or in the US, you will see people struggling against greed, idolatry, and materialism.

And the fourth petition in the Lord’s Prayer becomes relevant and illuminating as we will see how the request, “Give us this day our daily bread,” speaks to our current situation.

Some of you might be thinking that this prayer is more appropriate for many people living in poor communities in many slum areas of Metro Manila or any metropolis. I mean when was the last time you prayed, “Lord, I ask that you would provide for my next meal.” Most probably, the kind of prayer that you’ve said may have sounded like, “Lord, please prevent me from eating another meal. Teach me how to control my spending habit. Teach me to save and to give more to others.”

“Give us this day our daily bread,” does seem a little remote, doesn’t it? If we feel that way that may only show that we really do not understand the truth and the implication of this prayer.

What I’d like us to do is to see and understand that both the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 50 and Luke 12:22-31 highlight the truth that God faithfully provides for our daily needs. God does provide for the needs of His children.

But what is the nature of this provision?

I want you to see, first of all, that though this fourth petition seems to be simple and unimportant compared with the other petitions in the Lord's Prayer, yet it is very significant and it demands a careful study on our part. As the Catechism explains, when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” in effect we are really asking God to provide us not just our everyday food, but ALL our physical needs.

The word bread in the Lord's Prayer has a broader meaning than just an ordinary loaf of bread that we bake or buy from the grocery stores. It actually covers every physical provision necessary for the support of our bodies and preservation of our life in this world. Notice that I did not say 'every physical provision necessary for convenient life or luxurious living in this world.' No. Luxury or extravagance is excluded in this petition.

When Jesus Christ taught this prayer to His disciples, He was not telling them to think of daily banquet at the king’s table when they pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” What He had in my mind however are common necessities – things such as food, clothing, shelter, physical health and, as an extension, the means to acquire them, that is, money. And because these are very basic to human life, many people worry a lot about these needs.

The passage in Luke 12 mentions about food, drink and clothing. These are the kind of things that the Lord has in mind when He used the word 'bread' in the fourth request. In order to live in this world, we basically need food and drink, clothing and shelter. And Jesus says, “Do not be anxious about these things.” Why not? How can Jesus say that these necessities in life should not be our preoccupation as His followers? His short answer to that is in v.30b, “Your Father in heaven knows that you need them.”

Not only that He knows you need them, He also promised in His Word that He's going to provide these things to His children. In Luke 12, our Lord Jesus argues that God the Father Himself feeds and clothes His own people, whom He loves, even as He feeds the ravens or clothes the flowers and grass of the field, which are of lesser value compared to us His children.

So in saying that the Father cares even for the unclean birds, such as the raven, or for the flowers and the grass of the field that are here today and gone tomorrow, Jesus is emphasizing the truth that God will surely 'deliver the goods,' so to speak, to His children. He does this because we are far more valuable to Him than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.

This calls for faith on our part. The Bible testifies to the fact that God is the faithful Provider of our daily physical provisions. We read many promises from God's Word pertaining to His physical provision for His people. We read for example in Psalm 23 that the Lord is our shepherd, therefore we shall not want. In Psalm 33.18-19, we see similar promise, “But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.”

In Psalm 37:25-27 the psalmist testifies, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.”

These promises are never to be doubted by us. When God says that you are more valuable than the birds and He will feed you, you have no reason to worry about the next meal or the clothes you need for next year. Believers in poor countries such as the Philippines ought to learn and believe this truth as much as believers in affluent countries.

The practical outworking of this truth may vary however. Perhaps, most of you have only enough food for the next few days and you start to worry about your food for the next week. This prayer should give us the confidence to trust in the Lord and depend on His faithfulness. But maybe to some of you, you have no problem in terms of material provision. What you might be concerned about is how to get rid of some of your stuff and give it to those who may need them soon. This prayer teaches us to be channels of God’s blessing, to be an answer to this petition.

Remember that God's provision has a corporate aspect to it as well. It pertains to OUR bread, not just MY bread. When you pray this prayer, you must not only be thinking about yourself but others as well, especially those who are needy in the household of faith, both near and far.

God's provision for the bread of others may come from the abundance of your blessing. And in many ways, that's how God operates. He pours out His abundant provision to some of us so we learn to be generous and to take care of each other. As a result, we all learn to thank God and praise Him for His faithfulness in providing for our needs.

But as you know, our daily bread may also mean physical strength or healing. To those of you who are suffering from physical pain or illness, or maybe you have a relative who is battling with a deadly disease, you surely can pray this prayer, hoping and trusting God to grant you or your relative the needed energy or cure.

Isn't it comforting to know that our Father in heaven is not offended when we ask Him things that pertain to our physical needs? He cares for your body just as He cares for your soul. Do not be misled by those who teach that God only cares for your soul but not your body. Both are important to God. Jesus Christ saved us both body and soul. The Holy Spirit makes our body as His temple. Thus we honor God as Creator when we accept the fact that our body is important to Him and we ask Him to provide for ALL our physical needs – may it be material or financial, relational or medical.