Acts of God: Provisions for Body & Soul

Today our focus is on the basics—the necessities of life. In the fourth petition of the Lord’s prayer, we ask God to give us our daily bread. In our Old Testament reading, we see how God miraculously responded to some not so pleasant grumbling. For 40 years, the children of Israel ate bread from heaven—manna. That divine daily bread sustained their bodies through harsh conditions, but it still couldn’t soften their hardened hearts and proud minds. They needed another kind of bread—the Bread of Life. That’s the One we meet in our Gospel reading. Not only does he have the ability to meet the material and physical needs of mankind—as he has done throughout history—but he also meets our spiritual needs. God does not take care of one need and forget about our other needs. So we can look to him with expectant eyes knowing that he is righteous, compassionate, gracious and faithful.