Day by Day

I was reading the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4) again the other day . This is a familiar prayer to many, and so is the verse "Give us each day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3, NIV). This time I was using the New Living Translation (NLT), which translates this verse as "Give us our food day by day", which I thought gave a better perspective to the term "daily bread". Then later in Luke 12:22-34, I read that when Jesus was teaching about the futility of being anxious about our daily needs/wants, He assured us that He will give us all we need "from day to day" (Luke 12:31, NLT).

There may be an important clue here to help us to better understand our Father and His will for us. I remember reading that when Jesus sent out the twelve Apostles, He gave pretty specific instructions to "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town." (Luke 9:3-4, NIV) Later, when He sent out the 72 disciples, again He said "Do not take a purse or bag or sandals" (Luke 10:4, NIV), he again told them not to "move around from house to house" (Luke 10:7, NIV). Why travel and minister under such "deprived" conditions? I believe it is God's will that we are given what we need day by day, so that we will continue to lean on Him day by day.

Perhaps this is also why in Luke 11:9 (NLT), Jesus instructed us to "keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened." This is the essence of Intentional Discipleship - that Christianity is a intentional process where we grow day by day by praying and seeking Him day by day. It is not about a sudden enlightenment or enpowerment that comes from above, neither is it about a single act of salvation/redemption, but a day by day process of learning, growing, and even receiving His loving grace day by day to cleanse us from our sinful nature.

Guess what? This is such a strong parallel to training for a Triathlon/Marathon/Half-Marathon /Century ride, etc... It is an intentional process of training and growing stronger and faster day by day. It is also a day by day dependence on the Lord to heal our aches and pains, injuries, colds/flus, whatever gets between us and training. There are simply no short-cuts! :) So now, I am somewhat content to grow a little faster and stronger day by day. It is the process that matters, perhaps even more than the end result!

On the training end, my ego took a big beating in the New Balance practice run last Sunday. I did 10km in 65mins despite running my guts out (I felt like puking when I finished). :( It was rather hilly and the beach run in the middle was pure torture. To add insult to injury, my two buddies (let's call them NL and PT), who both claim to be not quite up to their usual racing form, totally kicked my butt without really trying. Sigh... Looks like it will be plenty of running day by day before I can get any where near being a credible runner. ;) Been feeling a bit "off" after the run - the usual runny nose, itchy throat feeling - so I guess this will continue to be a rest week. :(

Before I sign off, I was pleasantly surprised by the interest in the Black Chicken Soup in my last post so I scrounged around in the Internet and found this recipe for the adventurous. :) The noodles I used were just rice noodles which I guess can be substituted for any noodles. They are cooked seperately and added only after the soup is done to avoid clouding the soup. I have been told that if you cannot find black chicken, you can substitue with free ranging chicken and it would taste just as good. But really, Cliff got it spot on when he said "What does it taste like? It tastes like chicken." :D

Train safe brothers & sisters, and God Bless!