November - 16
GIVING THANKS FOR FOOD
“Give us today our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11
马太福音 6:9-13
November - 16
为食物感谢
「我们日用的饮食，今日赐给我们。」 太6:11
The idea of daily bread doesn’t fit into the world in which many of us live: we eat all sorts of food, and many of us have a couple of weeks’ supply in the freezer. But in the days in which Christ taught the Lord’s Prayer, bread was supplied each day, and it was the main element of the people’s diet.
Our food comes from across the nation and from all over the globe. Some people avoid eating bread altogether because they are dieting—there are lots of other kinds of foods to choose from. The trouble with the availability and the amount of all this is that it’s easy to forget to give thanks for our daily food.
God has created this world with a remarkable capacity to produce food. He has even given us the technology to increase the bounty so that the ground can produce more than it has in the past. As a result, we sometimes have more food than we know what to do with.
In the midst of this bounty, even though we might have food stored up, we must remember its source. We must remember that it all comes from God. We must keep in mind that there are many kinds of food but that there is only one Giver of all. It takes real effort to refrain from congratulating ourselves on our productivity and, instead, to give the thanks and the glory to God for the ways in which he has provided for us.
「日用饮食」（译者按：日用饮食英文原意为每日的面包）这个概念与我们当今居住的世界不太相称。因为我们每天除了面包之外，还吃各种各样的食物。许多人甚至在冰箱里储存着足够两个星期的食物。不过，在耶稣教导门徒主祷文的那个时代，面包是当天供应的，且是主要的粮食。我们现今的食物，来自全国和世界各地。正在减肥的人，甚至避免吃面包，因为仍有许多种类的食物可作选择。可惜在食物丰足时，我们却很容易忘记为食物而感谢神。
神创造这世界，并使地出产粮食。祂还赐给我们先进的科技，使土地出产更多的食物。事实上，我们的粮食十分丰足，有时甚至不知如何处置。
在食物丰足且有余之时，我们应当饮水思源，不可忘记一切都是从神而来的。当仅记虽然粮食的种类繁多，却都来自一位赐予者。我们要竭力避免把功劳归给自己，而要感谢神的赐与，因着祂的奇妙供应而将荣耀归给祂。
