Daily

by Micky Galloway

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9-15, they were instructed to reverently address God, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This petition suggests that our dependence on God to supply our physical nourishment exists one day as much as another. All of us understand the need to consume food with some regularity every day.

We need to be reminded that being a child of God is a daily life, not just being at services every Sunday and Wednesday; although that is part of being a child of God, there is much more. In order for us to be rooted and grounded; to grow and bear fruit, we must recognize the importance of giving daily attention to our spiritual lives as much or more than our physical lives. What do the Scriptures teach that we must do daily if we are to survive spiritually?

Read and study the Scriptures. We are told that those in Beroea, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Paul told Timothy to, “give heed to reading …” (I Timothy 4:13). Certainly, it is implied that this was to be more often than semi-occasionally. Paul was encouraged with the thought that, “though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day” (II Corinthians 4:16). Consider Paul’s focus, “For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1). We can change the way we live by changing the way we think. Paul reminded the Ephesians of the need to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23). In the parallel text of Colossians 3:10 we learn that we have “put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him.” Though the Christian is a new person in Christ, he is yet “being” (continually) renewed in knowledge. As a “new man” in Christ now he must grow up “unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Peter admonishes Christians to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). This knowledge is more than academic. It is a close intimate relationship as Paul describes in II Timothy 1:12, “for I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day” (cf. Philippians 3:10). The objective is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:29); or as he said in Galatians 4:19, “… until Christ be formed in you.” This transformation I cannot accomplish without daily study.

Pray. Daniel prayed three times a day, every day and he was in a foreign land in captivity. Daniel “… went into his house … and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Daniel 6:10). The ability of finite man to make real, personal communication with the infinite God is an awesome privilege. Prayer acknowledges the reality of God and man’s dependence upon Him. God has promised that He is able and willing to hear the prayer of those who are righteous. “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication” (I Peter 3:12). James said, “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (James 5:16). The psalmist wrote, “O thou who hearest prayer …” (Psalms 65:2). It is reassuring to know that the affairs of the universe are not so absorbing of God’s attention that he cannot give heed to the affairs of the individual soul who prays. He cares about me (cf. I Peter 5:7)! We are to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is to be a part of our regular daily activities. Never stop communicating with God. It is vital to one’s spiritual survival.

Exhort (encourage) one another daily. “Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called Today; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13). Through sin’s deception we can become hardened and through unbelief depart from the living God. Just as we need food every day in order to live and function physically; from a spiritual standpoint, we need each other in order to live and function as Christians. That would demand that we communicate with one another! We cannot survive spiritually in isolation. We need the exhortation of one another daily to remain steadfast.

Finally, deny self AND take up our cross daily. Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self?” (Luke 9:23-25). Self-denial is one of the most basic attributes of Christianity. Yet, it is one of the most difficult to attain. One reason for that is that it requires great strength of will. Every sin that man commits is the result of a selfish choice! “Deny self” means “to forget oneself, lose sight of oneself and one’s own interest” (Thayer). Literally it means to say “No!” to yourself. It is hard to say no to others, but even harder to say no to ourselves. “Take up” means “to take up and carry away” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary). To “take up” one’s cross is not to endure some illness or difficult situation that is imposed upon us, but a willful, voluntary acceptance of the consequences of our choice to do right. Literally “to take up one’s cross,” means to be prepared to endure suffering, even to the point of death (Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain). Isn’t that what Joseph was willing to do when he said to Potiphar’s wife, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Satan never sleeps, temptation bombards us continually. Potiphar’s wife, “cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me …” “She spake to Joseph day by day.” The temptation was constant, yet “he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, (or) to be with her” (Genesis 39:7-10). Joseph was willing to daily choose to suffer (even to death) the consequences of his decision to follow God. Without this daily commitment to follow Christ no matter the consequences, we will fail.

Space will not permit a discussion of all the daily necessities to remain faithful, but a commitment to these will go a long way. When we become so involved with the daily commitments we make in this world, let us not neglect the daily commitments we have made to God. These things are essential to be “richly supplied … entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:11).