Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

My dad was a hard worker on our farm and in the factory but not necessarily a handyman. Sometimes when a tractor or furnace or plumbing failed, a neighbor or friend would offer to fix it. Dad offered to pay even though he knew he couldn’t afford as much as they deserved. But they wouldn’t accept anything; they just loved to help. He would gratefully say, “Thanks. Until you’re better paid.” I’m not sure what he meant. Maybe he or someone else would do something for them later. Believers in Jesus who serve others because of their love for Him will one day be rewarded. Perhaps that’s a form of “until you’re better paid.” Jesus told His followers to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). Doing good to others may be one way to store up some of those “treasures.” He said we shouldn’t announce it “with trumpets”; if we do, that’s all the reward we’ll get (v. 2). We can be confident He sees us. The book of Hebrews reinforces this idea: “God . . . will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (6:10). We don’t serve for rewards but rather because Jesus loves us and in response we express our love and praise for Him. What a blessing it will be to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (25:21, 23).

What’s so good about Good Friday? Why isn’t the day called Bad or Sad Friday? After all, it’s meant to be a day of sorrowful reflection, not a day of celebration. Sometimes, this day takes other names, such as Holy Friday. In Germany, it’s called Karfreitag, or Sorrowful Friday. So where did we get the tradition of calling it “Good”? Some believe it may have originated from the older tradition of calling it “God’s Friday.” No matter the origin of the name, it’s still appropriate to call the Friday Jesus died “good.” Out of Christ’s sacrificial love, He died for our sins. That’s why Good Friday is good. And the great news is that three days later He rose from the grave in victory. D.A. Carson wrote, “It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and it was his love for sinners like me.” We read in 1 John 4: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (v. 10). The good news of Good Friday is that God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us! Because of that love, we’re called to love others (vv. 7, 11). When we do, we show our love for Him.

When I broke my upper arm, my friend Rex surprised me by shipping a care box of frozen soups with a beautiful silver ladle. I was deeply touched and kept the ladle long after consuming the soup. My arm has healed and dear Rex has since passed away but his gesture of love continues to express God’s love for me. Every time I lift the ladle, I thank God for His love to me through my friend. Jesus gave us a tangible gift in the celebration of communion to help us remember His incomparable love for us (Luke 22:19). The apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians how Jesus broke bread saying, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Then Christ “took the cup, saying, ‘The cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (v. 25). God’s lavish love is remembered again and again as we take the bread and lift the cup as believers in Christ. Rex showed his love through the tangible gift of a care box, leaving a ladle to remind me month after month. Jesus loved us in the life-altering gift of His body sacrificed on the cross for our sins. He left us the practice of communion to remind us of His unchanging love.

At a job interview, Carol was asked repeatedly, “Why did you leave your previous job?” The interviewer had an inkling of the conflict she’d had with her former employer and wanted to know what had happened. While acknowledging “differences in working style,” Carol refused to divulge her opinion of her former boss, believing that it would be wrong to speak ill of him. Later, after she was hired, her new boss revealed that the hiring personnel liked her response: “We were impressed by your integrity. We wouldn’t want you to bad-mouth your boss—or us next time—either.” As a new believer in Jesus, Carol had always wondered how to live in a “godly” and “right” way, practically. She realized the answer could be simple: show integrity and be honorable, honest, and ethical. First Peter 2:12 points to the importance of honesty and integrity in everything: “Live such good lives among the pagans that . . . they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” This includes practical things like submitting to lawful authorities (vv. 13-14); doing good (v. 15); showing an attitude of humility and service (v. 16); and respecting and loving others (v. 17). As God helps us, let’s serve Him in a way that brings honor to His name.

Hudson Taylor was troubled. He’d left England to share the gospel about Christ in China, and ministry—though challenging—had gone well. But in 1865, as he considered sending more people to minister to a more dangerous part of the country, without protection, he felt “intense conflict.” Later, after wrestling with God in prayer, he wrote: “The Lord conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God . . . [recognizing] that all responsibility . . . and consequences must rest with him.” Moses received a call from God that likely left him troubled. As he was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, God said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea” (Exodus 14:2). This meant they were trapped between Pharaoh and a vast body of water! The Israelites trembled as “Pharaoh approached”(v. 10). Panic-stricken, they told Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (v. 12). But Moses replied, “Do not be afraid” (v. 13). And he was right. God provided rescue and victory for His people as they rested in Him (vv. 15-31). At times, we won’t understand what God’s doing in our lives because we don’t have His view. It was during such a moment that Hudson Taylor wrote, “As his servant it was [my responsibility] to obey and to follow him.” We too can rest in God’s view and plans.

To become a lawyer in California, Maxcy Filer had to pass the state’s grueling, three-day bar exam. So he took it not once, not twice, but forty-eight times before passing the tough test. His goal? To advocate for the underprivileged in Compton, his beloved city. Between his first and last attempts at passing the exam—across twenty-five years—Filer and his wife raised seven children, all who went to college. When Filer was sworn in, the judge said: “Three words about Maxcy Filer: perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.”   His story prompts me to think of people in the Bible who persevered. The writer of Hebrews recognized some: Noah, who “by his faith . . . became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith” (11:7). Or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (vv. 8-21), Moses (vv. 23-28), and others. Such examples inspire us. The writer then exhorts believers in Christ: “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (12:1). We then read, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (v. 1). How will we do this? By “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2). As we consider Christ’s sacrifice for us, “[we] will not grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3.) Challenges to our faith give us opportunity to endure in His name. In His power, we persevere.

Although it was Palm Sunday, a day to celebrate the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, for Mary Edwar it became a time of deep pain. Leaving their church after the service, she and her husband, Kareem, were holding hands when a bomb went off. The device killed Kareem and injured Mary, causing her to miscarry. While Mary recuperated, she felt furious while grieving for her husband and child. But somehow reading the Bible calmed “the volcano inside her.” In particular, when she struggled to comprehend why God allowed the atrocity, Isaiah 55:9 helped: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.” As she understood that God extends grace even when He’s dishonored, she felt soothed by His Spirit. Mary considered Isaiah’s message from God to His wayward people. While calling them back to Himself, God sought to expand their understanding of His merciful character. Even as the heavens are “higher than” the earth, so were God’s ways “higher than” theirs (v. 9). So too will God show love and grace, more than they could imagine. While grieving deeply, Mary was stunned to receive God’s gift of peace. She welcomed Jesus’ consoling love, which He poured out in the events that we mark during Holy Week. He’s eager to give us His peace too; we need only to look to Him.

“No, you can’t go to the lake,” I said to my daughter with my head tucked under the sink as I fixed a broken pipe. “Dad, you promised that after I had finished my chores, I could go,” she reminded me. I’d forgotten what I had said because I was preoccupied. My problem blinded me to my promise.  As my daughter did with me, the psalmist reminded God of His promises. “Remember your word to your servant,” he wrote, “for you have given me hope” (119:49). Thankfully, we don’t have a heavenly Father who’s distracted and forgetful. We can come to Him not only with our hurts, problems, and disappointments but also in confidence knowing He’s a good Father: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (v. 50).   God invites us to meditate on the Scriptures so we can remind Him of His promises—not because He forgets but because He desires that we know Him well. That’s why the psalmist says, “I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them. . . . Your decrees are the theme of my song” (vv. 52, 54). Because of my distractions, my daughter needed to remind me of my promise. When she did, I gladly let her go to the lake. We can be thankful that our heavenly Father is never preoccupied or too busy. He loves to hear us pray His words back to Him. 

My niece, a college freshman, was busy with schoolwork and adjusting to a new residence. Because of recent security issues, her school required a vehicle pass. Since applying for this would be one more task on her long to-do list, I offered to do it. “Thanks!” she later said, surprised it had taken me only minutes in the campus office. What she didn’t know was that the otherwise simple task had taken half a day of coordinating with the office, fixing a glitch in her application, and gathering unexpected documents. But I didn’t tell her this. “Anytime!” I said. Love is in the details. Here, it was in taking care of details my niece was unaware of. Scripture tells us of God’s love as seen in two seemingly small details of the Israelites’ life in the wilderness: their clothes and shoes. Throughout forty years of walking, their “clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on [their] feet” (Deuteronomy 29:5). In fact, their feet didn’t even swell! (8:4). God’s people had been unfaithful, but He showed “great compassion,” not abandoning them (Nehemiah 9:19). “They lacked nothing” (v. 21). God provided the “big” things, such as His presence, the counsel of His Spirit, and food and water (vv. 19-20); and the “smaller” but necessary things, such as clothes and shoes.   God shows His love in ways we may overlook or be unaware of. Such is His love that He sees every detail of our life.

Some years ago, artist Michael Landy counted up everything he owned, making a list of 7,227 possessions. What he did next was eye-opening. Setting up a factory in London’s busiest shopping district, Landy publicly destroyed it all. Clothes, artworks, love letters, even his car, were broken down, placed on a conveyor belt, and fed into grinders. As consumers darted in and out of department stores nearby, Landy’s performance art asked, “Who are we without our possessions?” It’s an important question because most of us buy things to define ourselves or secure our futures. Jesus told a parable about a man who horded his wealth and embraced a consumer lifestyle. “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years,” the man tells himself. “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). But what was left when his life was “demanded” from him that night? Only God’s rebuke at having missed what’s most important (vv. 20-21). It isn’t a sin to own things. Michael Landy still needed clothes. But when we’re tempted to find life and identity in what we own, Jesus reminds us that “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (v. 15). Who would you be without all your goods? Still a dearly loved child of God (Psalm 103:17; Ephesians 5:1). Out of this secure identity, we can be rich toward God and others.