Especially Those in Caesar’s Household

February 24, 2015

Especially Those in Caesar’s Household

“Give us today our daily bread.”

Matthew 6:11 NIV

When a person was put into jail in the Roman Empire, the prisoners’ family and friends were responsible for feeding and providing for their personal needs. As the Apostle Paul draws his letter to the Philippians to a close, he thanks them for their generosity in meeting his needs while he was in prison, hundreds of miles away, in Rome. He then gives them this powerful benediction, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

One of the obstacles we encounter in our journey to make the life in Christ our way of life is learning to understand our needs from the perspective of God. Certainly part of the problem is that we confuse our wants with our needs. Even when we are able to distinguish between wants and needs, we tend to think of needs in a future tense, as in what do I need for the next week, month, year, ten years. Often when I pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” I recall a mission trip to Matamoros, Mexico and a Friday evening worship service. A woman shared that on Wednesday afternoon she came to the church to pray because she had no food in her house. When she returned home she found a box of food by her door. Her need for daily bread had been met.

The vast majority of people we know have not been in such a dire place. Even so, we have needs that are just as compelling. Written into the DNA of every human being are the needs to be loved, to be accepted and to have worth – a sense that it matters we are alive. All of our efforts to meet these needs, out of our own strength and resources, will never satisfy those needs. Yet we go through life trying to meet our needs for love and acceptance through our relationships with others. We try to feel love and acceptance by performing in certain ways or by manipulating other people. The Good News is that God has met all of our needs through His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

When we allow ourselves to be fully present with God and trust that God will indeed satisfy our every need, we can learn to be fully present with the people around us. Such a place is fertile ground for miracles like that which Paul testified to in the close of his letter to the Philippians: “And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4: 22).

Paul was trusting God to give him his daily bread. The church in Philippi was helping to meet Paul’s needs. Together this witness for Christ reached the most unlikely of places: Caesar’s household. Who in your environment can God touch as you trust God for your daily bread?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ  is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.