Polar Bear Merit Badge

Series on the Lord’s Prayer – “give us this day our daily bread”
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 16:1-5; John 6:25-35; 47-51; Matthew 6:9-13 

[Jesus taught his disciples to pray by saying, “Our Father in heaven”. This is the beginning of what we have come to call The Lord’s Prayer. In this series, we will take a deep dive into the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and to learn what it means for us today.]

  

I was a terrible Boy Scout! For example, the Boy Scouts had various merit badges that you could earn. One of them was the Polar Bear. It required you to camp out overnight for a 24-hour period during the dead of winter, prepare a meal and, for my troop, compete in the Klondike Derby. For me, it was a recipe for disaster.

 

Upon arriving at our campsite, the first thing some of the guys did was to walk out onto a frozen creek. Apparently, they knew something that I didn’t. Because as I stepped onto the edge of the creek, my foot immediately broke through the ice, soaking my shoe, sock and foot. Things went downhill from there. The next day I tried to cook spaghetti from a can but couldn’t build a fire – no food for 24 hours.

 

When I got home, I was starving, exhausted and chilled to the bone. While I changed into some warm, dry clothes, my Mom made six slices of French toast for me. They filled the plate and were covered with melting butter, syrup dripping over the edges and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I turned on the TV, ate my fill of French toast, cuddled under an Afghan on the couch and fell asleep.

 

When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the people complained about not having food. So, the Lord provided manna for them daily.

 

^4a Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day”.      NIV    Exodus 16

 

Almost 1500 years later, the Israelites were still focused on food. After Jesus fed the 5000, he went off to be alone. However, the crowd tracked him down across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. Although they pretended to be interested in Jesus and learning about God, what they really wanted was more food.

 

They asked Jesus for a sign and gave a not-so-subtle hint by referring to Moses who had provided “bread from heaven” for their ancestors. They even quoted Scripture to Jesus to drive home their point. Imagine that… quoting Scripture to the Son of God.

 

³² Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”       NLT   John 6

 

This got the crowd excited! They demanded from Jesus – they didn’t just ask – “give us that bread every day.”

 

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  NIV    John 6

 

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he included this phrase.

 

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.        NKJV Matthew 6

 

The French toast that my Mom fixed for me wasn’t the “bread of life”, but it was delicious. She used plain white bread but coated it with her own special mix of eggs, milk and cinnamon… with love. Bread is a staple of life – even plain white bread.

 

Jesus is the staple of life. He’s not only “the bread of life”, but he’s also “our daily bread” both for living here on earth as well as for life in heaven.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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