“How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

— Matthew 7:11

Where I live in Canada, many students and teachers are preparing to go back to school—and for our family that means making school lunches again. We go through quite a lot of bread because we often make sandwiches for lunch. Sometimes one of our kids will come home with an uneaten sandwich, and that can make me wonder, Was it not good? Were they not hungry? Did they not have time to eat it?

In Matthew 7, Jesus emphasizes that if we human parents, as imperfect as we are, know how to provide for our children, how much more does our Father in heaven provide good things for us! The problem is that we don’t always recognize how God provides for us. We expect something else, or we wait for God to feed us only what we want. Sometimes we have no appetite because we’ve filled ourselves with ­other things. Perhaps we have no time to pay attention to God’s goodness because we’ve filled our schedules with other activities.

Hopefully, reflecting on the theme of bread in the Bible will help us to slow down and notice the many ways God satisfied his people in the past, and that God continues to satisfy our needs through his Word and presence in our lives today. Jesus promises to nourish us—in both body and soul.

Lord, thank you for all of your good gifts. Help us to ask for what we need, and to recognize the ways you provide for us each day, that we may receive all that you intend for us in Christ. Amen.