November Gratitude E. Stone 4 Provision

Growing up I learned through the ritual at mealtimes to give thanks for the food. We would hold hands and often we sang our grace. The point was to thank God for the food; saying thanks before a meal is a deeply biblical and historical practice.

In the Old Testament Jethro thanked God before sitting to eat meat with Moses (Exodus 18:12).

In the New Testament when Jesus was with a hungry crowd, He took the loaves, and gave thanks, and distributed them to the company (John 6:11).

Paul recalls one of the most intimate of moments Jesus had with His disciples at their last supper, The tradition which I received from the Lord, and handed on to you, is that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was being betrayed, took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it. (1 Cor. 11:23)

For some families a prayer of thanks before a meal is termed “saying grace.” The term Grace actually stems from the pre-Elizabeth English word graces which means nothing but thanksgiving.

That family ritual is a gesture that reminds me to regularly pause, take a deep breath and acknowledge that all I have comes from God and I am honoring Him by saying thanks!

Thank you for your daily provisions for me. 

This post was inspired by Dan Crane’s Ears to Hear