Last week I shared about this month’s theme from the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread and how its connection to the Israelites being given daily manna by God during their years in the desert – just enough for the day.
I find that many Christians believe a form of the prosperity gospel – which maintains that material blessing, health, and wealth are signs of God’s favour and come to us as rewards of faithful living and giving. Conversely, it teaches that poverty and sickness are curses but those can be overcome through belief and generous giving.
I believe some confusion about God’s provision can come from our misunderstanding of scripture and in particular about the context in which it was written.
In Psalm 23, the line “he makes me lie down in green pastures” probably makes our minds think of a scene like the one on the left – with an almost unlimited amount of grass, safety, and security.
And yet the scene, David knew when writing the psalm almost certainly looked more like the one in the picture on the right.
In this environment (Israel) green pastures are actually just some green tufts of grass which sprout up each morning but by mid-afternoon have been scorched by the sun. Because of this the sheep have just enough each day – and not the abundance we might think when we have the first picture in mind.
Not only does having the wrong “picture” in mind lead to a misunderstanding of what God’s provision looks like, it also diminishes the importance of the shepherd. In the left picture the sheep don’t seem to need a shepherd as food, safety, and security are so abundant. But in the reality of the right picture the sheep depend on their shepherd for their very survival.
The main reason we think about the green pastures in the left picture is that in most ways we live in that scene – as Canada is one of the most peaceful and prosperous places in the world. Obviously this is a blessing and one we should not take for granted, but with that blessing, comes the tendency to put our faith, hope, and security in what we have (profession, social connections, finances, possessions, etc.) instead of in our Good Shepherd.
Let’s not only pray for our “daily bread” but share and help others as much as we can – as we live in gratitude to God for all He provides.