The Daily Bread Principle

By Chris Tiegreen

“Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).

More than a million people had been led straight into the desert. It was clearly a deliverance, but to what? There was no food. But God had a solution. He always does. Manna, a mysterious bread from heaven, would fall to them daily. They could gather only enough for one day, no more (except on the day before Sabbath). If they gathered more, it would rot. It could not be hoarded. They would just have to trust, at the end of each day, that the manna would come again on the next day. They would just have to believe God for tomorrow. “This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions,” God said (Exodus 16:4).

Saving up is not an option for us, either. Yes, we can buy a week’s worth of groceries at a time, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about. True bread, heavenly bread, is given on a day-by-day basis. We cannot pray or worship enough for the whole week on Sunday. The directions we got yesterday won’t apply today. We cannot tithe the first portion of our paychecks and think that our sacrifice is done for the month. The daily bread principle is unalterable. You can’t store up the things you need from God. You have to keep coming back for them, keep trusting Him for them, day after day after day.

“You will never need more than God can supply.” —J. I. Packer

Why is this so? Because God insists—absolutely insists—that we have a relationship with Him. Relationships must be maintained. He knows well that if He gives us our supplies for a week or a month we will only seek Him once a week or once a month. The temptation is great to gather in all that we can today—physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. But the daily bread principle is always at work, in all areas. There is no loving trust when there’s a full storeroom.

Just as our loved ones are not content with one “I love you” for the year, God is not content with a periodic appearance before Him. Manna doesn’t work that way, and neither do relationships. Ask for daily bread in every area of life. And come back again tomorrow.

For a Deeper Walk, read Exodus 16:13-19 and Luke 11:1-10.