I think I’ve been asking
for too much. I pray for safety for Wayne when He’s on the road. I pray for
security and happiness for my children. I pray for healing for my eyes. I pray
for a lot of different things for my friends. And that’s good because God
commanded us to ask.
But the writer of Proverbs
has narrowed down what’s important to two things: to never lie and to be neither
rich nor poor. These seem like strange requests if you’re only going to get two.
But Proverbs was written by the wisest man ever (Solomon), so I’d better figure
it out.
If I have too much, if I
get rich, I might disown God because I won’t feel like I need Him. That self-sufficiency
is a form of pride. In fact it’s putting myself in charge of my life, instead of
relying on and submitting to Him.
If I have too little I may
get desperate and do something dishonest like stealing to meet my needs. In a
way, that too is pride. Instead of trusting God to provide, I trust myself and
take what I need.
This attitude of pride is a
lie. It is believing that I need to take care of myself when the truth is that
everything comes from God.
Humility and gratitude are
the truth.
So the writer asks God to
give Him just enough to satisfy his needs. What is enough? My daily bread.
Brace yourselves, I’m going
to make a huge leap here, from physical to spiritual needs.
Jesus is the Bread of Life.
He’s what I need every day. When I have enough of Him, I don’t need the world’s
riches. I stop lying to myself and to God about my ability to take care of
myself. I give up control to Him. On the other hand, if I don’t get enough of
Him, I take what I need from the world – in essence I steal from a source that
is not mine. And I tell myself that I’m satisfied, but I’m not.
Maybe it’s not that I’ve
been asking for too much, but that I’ve been asking for the wrong things. Give
me Jesus.
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