Bread of Life

Matthew 7:9 “You parents - if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Last night I had to spank Luke for the first time in his life. He was too engrossed in his video game to respond to my “you have 5 seconds to stop the game” which in our household is the nuclear option. Of course, he cried, and of course I felt terrible, but after everything settled down, I asked him “you know, I love you right?” [Luke nods] “You’re a good boy, but sometimes good boys do bad things. I only want the best for you, and that’s why I had to spank you tonight.” “Yes I learned about this at school. Scolding can seem bad, but we shouldn’t make excuses when we get scolded. It’s a good thing because it helps make us better!” The other day I heard a sharing from my friend Isaac Ong who has an incredibly powerful testimony. He heard God’s voice and had to wait through 13 years of failure after failure, before being brought to the highest levels of the entertainment industry to be used as a light for the kingdom. One thought that particularly struck me in his sharing was the idea that God always has bread for us, but sometimes in our ignorance we think God’s giving us a stone. I was so proud of Luke to realize that while screen time seems like bread and spanking seems like stone, in this moment it was quite the opposite. God, you are always good, and even when I can’t understand why it feels things don’t go my way, I know you have great things in store for me. I’m so proud of my son, and I know you’re so proud of me too. Thank you for always being the bread of life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.