在我所居住的加拿大，很多学生和老师都在准备返校，开始新的学年 － 而对我们一家来说，也到了恢复给孩子们做午餐带到学校的时候。我们会使用大量面包，因为我们通常都是吃三明治当午餐的。有时，我们的孩子中有一个带着没有吃过的三明治回家来，我因此便会心生疑惑。三明治是否不好吃？或者他们不饿吗？难道他们没有时间吃饭吗？
在马太福音 7 章，耶稣强调说，我们在地上为人父母的，尽管是如此不完全，尚且知道怎样供应我们子女的需要，何况我们在天上的父，岂不更把好东西赐给我们呢！问题是我们往往看不到神怎样供应我们的需要，因为我们得到的不是我们期望的，或我们单单在等待神赐下我们想要的东西。有时我们没有胃口，因为我们的胃里塞满了别的东西。或许因为我们的日程被很多其他的活动填满了，以至于没有时间去留意神的美意。
藉着思想圣经中以粮食为主题的经文，盼望我们能够放慢脚步，好叫我们留意到昔日神如何以各种方式来供应衪子民的需要，而今天神仍藉着祂的话语以及与我们同在来继续供应我们的需要。耶稣应许我们，祂会喂养我们 的肉体和灵命。
主啊，我们为你一切美好的恩赐感谢你。求你帮助我们按自己的需要向你祈求，又让我们看到你怎样每天供应我们的需要，好叫我们能得到你在基督里为我们预备的一切丰盛。阿们。
马太福音 7:7-11
7“你们祈求，就给你们；寻找，就寻见；叩门，就给你们开门。
8因为凡祈求的，就得着；寻找的，就寻见；叩门的，就给他开门。
9你们中间谁有儿子求饼，反给他石头呢？
10求鱼，反给他蛇呢？
11你们虽然不好，尚且知道拿好东西给儿女，何况你们在天上的父，岂不更把好东西给求他的人吗？
"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.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
