Read: Mark 4: 30-32
“If you
have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to
there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matt
17:20-21 NKJV
Life
usually flows as smoothly as a river following its natural boundaries, until it
unexpectedly throws us a sharp curve or rocky rapids for which we are
unprepared. This sudden inconvenience often hits us right between the eyes and
throws us for a loop, if it doesn’t knock us out completely. Sometimes we lose
our faith, even for a short time. At other times, however, Satan sends one too
many negative circumstances, which will cause people to curse God and walk away
from Him before they ever had a chance to form an intimate, personal
relationship with Him.
To set the
stage for the point of this post, let me explain the origin of the phrase, “a
baker’s dozen’. England has a long history of regulation of trade. Bakers or
brewers who gave short measure could be fined, pilloried or flogged. Therefore,
bakers were afraid of selling bread that was underweight. They gave an extra
loaf when selling a dozen in order to avoid being penalized for selling short
weight. It did not take long for this practice of giving thirteen instead of twelve
in any transaction to be called “a baker’s dozen”.
Recently, I read about an
elementary school art teacher that had several very talented young students.
One student in particular was very expressive in her drawings and usually had
deeply contrived meaning behind her work. When this child drew 13 petals on all
of her flowers in one of her projects, her teacher asked her,
"Why?"
She answered,“My mommy says
thirteen is called a baker’s dozen. God never gives us only what we need, but
He always gives to us abundantly.”
Her teacher, stunned by this
prosaic answer, could only smile in return.
Oh, to have the faith resembling
this little child’s. Simple faith to realize that God always gives us a baker’s
dozen, even when circumstances suddenly take a turn for the worse.
Prayer:
Lord, we
often take You for granted, and we forget to acknowledge Your provision for us
each and every day. Remind us to thank You for Your abundant blessings in our
lives. Thank You for giving us this day our daily bread.
Thought for
the Day:
All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the
heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and
desired. – Martin Luther
