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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Why do we pray before meals? Why do we ask “give us, this day, our daily bread?”
Because… there was a time when eating was not a given. Meals were hard-earned each day. Whether you ate depended on a successful hunt, or a bountiful harvest. And if anything went wrong; famine, illness, theft, or any number of other circumstances, you might not eat. There was no greater act of hospitality than sharing a meal with friends or strangers. The food you gave away one day might be needed tomorrow.
One of the most powerful signs of God’s mighty works is providing mana for the Jews in the wilderness. A god that gave food each day, literally coming down from heaven and just waiting to be gathered, was indeed a powerful god. Obviously that perspective is lost in today’s world of drive-throughs and DoorDash.
Imagine if a person from antiquity was able to time-travel to today. Surely they would marvel at a refrigerator – a machine that keeps food from spoiling. What would they think of an electronic device that cooks meals in minutes – a microwave oven? I wonder if they would consider a fast-food to be food at all.
Maybe when you sit down for your next meal, in addition to giving thanks for the food, let us give thanks that our lives are easier. The ascent of mankind shows me that God does not want his creation to subsist. He gave us intellect and skills to build things for our own benefit. It cannot be God’s will that we struggle.
Maybe the modern-meal prayer should be to promise to give back some of our free time to Him.
Chris Conley
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