Living by Daily Bread

 Read Proverbs 30

If you were faithful in your daily reading, you might have had some questions about people and terms.  You might have done your own research.  You might have waited until now thinking I did my reading, Tom can tell me what all this new stuff is.

Agur son of Jakeh is not really addressed anywhere else. He may be included in the men of Hezekiah (Proverbs 25:1).

Ithiel is mentioned in  Nehemiah 11:7.  What does that tell us?  This is the time of the return from Babylon and Ithiel lived in Jerusalem.

Ucal means I am strong, but we have no other reference as to who he was or what he did.

The next chapter brings us to King Lemuel, also with no other reference, and some suspect a pseudonym for Solomon, perhaps so he could use another voice.

What do we glean from this? Some of these proverbs postdate Solomon by a few centuries.

We also come upon terms that we just don’t’ use these days. Hyraxes is one.  Some might call it a Shrewmouse. I’m sure that helped a lot.  It’s a plant-eating (using molars, not incisors) mammal that acts like it’s cold-blooded as it regulates its own body temperature poorly compared to other warm-blooded creatures.  It is not a ruminant but has a divided stomach, hence references in Deuteronomy to chewing its cud.

Here is Tom’s composite.  A cross between a rabbit and a badger that huddles together like a bunch of snakes for warmth while chewing its cud.

The He Goat is easier to figure out.  It’s a male goat given to head butting.  And no, my picture does not accompany the definition in the dictionary, yet. There is some interesting stuff in this chapter, so let’s get to it.

We won’t cover it all, but we will take a slice from verses 7-9.

We are blessed to live as we do.  Some have more than others, but we all seem to have enough.  We know many who don’t have enough.  Often, we help them.  Some are near and some are far away.

We are blessed to be able to help.

Have you ever wished that you would win the lottery?  If you won it this week, you would barely have a million dollars or so a year after tithe and taxes.  Is it even worth it?  Who could get by on that?

Most of you might be thinking, “I would give it a try.”

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were out of work and homeless?  What if you had a family?  Would you steal to provide for them? Would you steal to keep from starving?

You might think, “I hope not.”  In reality, we might also think, “If it came to them starving, I’m not sure what I would do.”

Have you ever stopped to think about how blessed we are to have our daily needs met without venturing too far to either extreme?

We have enough to provide shelter for our family.  In today’s world that comes with running water, indoor plumbing, heat, and often air conditioning, not to mention the things we take for granted such as flipping a switch and we see darkness turn to light.

We have enough to make our tithe—ten percent of what we receive in the course of working, social security, investments, and the like.

We have enough to give our kids a few bucks for Martha and when the time comes for a goat and two chickens.

Some have enough for our local help—local benevolence—ministry.

Some have something left to support the children’s home, which is now officially titled Cumberland Youth and Family Services.

Some have something left to support the Western Oklahoma Family Care Center or the Hope Center that help people pay bills and bring their children to term and deliver new life into the world.

Some of you give to the shoe ministry that we have been a part of in year’s past.  Some give to St. Jude’s, the American Cancer Society, or even the Ronald McDonald House.

And of course, we always have something for the church, school, FFA, or sport of the month fundraiser.

It seems that we have been blessed with enough to meet our needs and bless others.  Understand how great a blessing that is.

But if I was rich, I could do so much more than I can now.  I’m talking good stuff, not selfish stuff.  That is correct.  If you are a good steward of what God has blessed you with now, you can be a good steward of whatever else he sends your way, but understand this.  Increased blessings require increased focus and stewardship.

To be master over your money requires more attention and effort as money increases. 

Yeah, ok, I guess, what?  Why?

On any given day, you could assess your situation and say, “I’m good.  I’ve got enough.  Why do I even need God?”

The words eat, drink, and be merry might come to mind.  Do you know where these words come from? Try the parable of the bigger barns.

What is the counsel of this parable? Jesus said: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

I have posed the challenge this way.  Are we rich towards God? What does the proverb say?

Two things I ask of you, Lord;

    do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

    give me neither poverty nor riches,

    but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

    and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Or I may become poor and steal,

    and so dishonor the name of my God.

We will not say much about keeping falsehood away.  That one is straightforward.  Don’t make me have to contend with falsehood every day.  That could read, “Don’t make me live in the twenty-first century,’ but there has always been an abundance of falsehood in the world.

We are focusing on living between poverty and riches in the abundance of daily bread.  What did Jesus say when he modeled prayer for us?  Father gives us what we need just for today.

What is the only day that we can live?  It’s today.

We have talked before that there is nothing wrong with money, so long as you are master over your money.  The proverb tells us that a lot of money—riches if you will—would require an extraordinary effort on our part to remain master over our money.

Just as debt reverses the relationship with money, so too can riches.  We must be on guard all of the time. Some may be equipped to stay the course of living a godly life upon receipt of some windfall.  Most might be tempted to eat, drink, and be merry.

Our message is to understand the blessing of daily bread—of having our needs met, which includes the need to bless others.

It’s a little easier to understand not wanting to live in poverty.  We don’t want to be faced with the decision as whether we would steal or starve.  Most here know that God’s people would help us if we were in dire straits, except that pride—selfish and foolish pride—kicks in and sometimes persuades us not to ask for help.

For us in this day and this time, we should pray for eyes to see the blessings of living by daily bread.

Having our daily needs met does not mean that we do not know struggle and sacrifice.  It means that those challenges do not result in being destitute.  We make sacrifices.  We brown bag it for six months to save up the down payment for a car.

We eat out less, so we can send a kid to college.  We sell something we own to help someone just make it through the month.  We know sacrifice and trials but we do not know poverty.

Our needs are met and those needs include helping others.

We probably think that we could win the lottery and bring glory to God every day.  Perhaps you can.  It would take a special effort. It would take the readiness of the first two servants in the Parable of the Talents. Most people struggle to get ready for the day.  Getting ready to bring glory to God every day following a windfall is usually something beyond our grasp.

We probably think if we hit rock bottom, we would not steal to get by.  Maybe we wouldn’t. Maybe we couldn’t bear to watch our families go without.

We should expect God to continue to bless us as we seek him and his kingdom and his righteousness; and we should expect to be called to practice God’s wisdom so we do not end up destitute.

Most of all, we should have eyes to see the blessings of living by daily bread.

Our needs are met.

We have enough to bless others.

We can leave an inheritance to our children’s children.

We don’t do debt and are not a slave to the lender.

Wisdom is not talking about mediocrity. It is talking about the fulness of life. We can only live this day but we can live it to the full being known as disciples of Christ Jesus by our love. We can live fully in our daily provisions.

As you go from this place, consider the blessings of living by daily bread.

Amen.