Eccl. 11:1-2
"Cast your bread upon the
waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even
to eight, for you know not what evil may happen on earth. (RSV)"
Charity
or giving is
here inculcated.
Rom.
14:6-8
6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever
eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever
abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
7For none of us lives for
ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.
8If we live, we live for the
Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong
to the Lord.
Bread—
As in the Lord’s prayer (give us this
day, our daily bread) means, all things needful for the body and soul,
for the survival of the church and specific assignment
Bread
upon the waters:
This
is a command.
A
divine instruction backed up with mysterious blessings.
This
literally means,
- our resources
risked in God's presence
- charitable
deeds performed without expectation of return.
This
is the scriptural way of giving!!!
- But bread in the Bible, is a
symbol for everything we have, for everything we need.
- Bread is what God supplies us
with – “Give us this day our daily bread”.
- It’s the manna in the wilderness.
- It’s the result of our everyday
work, the products of our labor.
- It’s our foodstuff, and our bank books,
and our possessions, all rolled up into one symbol....... BREAD
“Cast
your bread upon the waters. . .”
- Let go, and let God take charge. What you dont let go, God can't
take charge of.
- Let God take charge of my substance, and my life, and my
direction.
Case Study:
Elijah and the Widow at
Zarephath
1
Kings 17:7-16
7 Some time later the brook
dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him:
9 “Go at once to Zarephath in
the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you
with food.”
10 So he went to Zarephath.
When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to
her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a
drink?”
11 As she was going to get it,
he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I
don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in
a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and
my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t
be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of
bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make
something for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The
jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the
day the Lord sends rain on the
land.’
15 She went away and did as
Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman
and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the
jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
Title : CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS
Description : Eccl. 11:1-2 "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eigh...