The work began in Detroit with Dr. M.R. Dehaan’s radio broadcast. Three years later the ministry moved to Grand Rapids, and the name was changed to Radio Bible Class. 15 years after that came the printing of the first Our Daily Bread devotional. The year was 1956, and you can still find the daily devotional at many churches.
Here’s the amazing thing: copies are free.

Nothing Is Really Free
“Free” doesn’t mean copies of Our Daily Bread magically appear in stacks ready to read. The truth is many people help produce it, and many people help finance the publication.
Nothing is really free. Someone behind the scenes always gives and pays. There is no free coffee, no free lunch, and no free medical care. Clothing isn’t free and rent isn’t free. Somebody pays the cost.
Never Bite the Hand . . .
An old saying comes to mind: “Never bite the hand of the one who feeds you.” You know how it feels to go out of your way to help someone — only to be told you didn’t do enough or didn’t do it well enough.
It seems that some people think they are entitled to anything they want. You can never do enough for them. They are always complaining that life isn’t fair. They won’tlift a finger to help themselves. No, it’s your job to work for them, your job to provide for them, and it’s your job to make sure they are well fed.
Hogwash.
I Wonder How God Feels About That?
Nobody can come close to outgiving God. Bill Gates can’t, Elon Musk can’t, and Jeff Bezos can’t. The resources of the wealthiest people on Earth aren’t even a drop in the bucket. God not only owns everything you see (and everything you can’t see),
God created it. Life is a gift. We did nothing to earn it.
There’s something else that’s free, although we don’t often see it that way. Faith is free. Here’s how the Bible puts it:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Like copies of Our Daily Bread or the coffee and donuts on the table at a meeting, you’re welcome to take what you want without needing to open your wallet … but that doesn’t mean they are free.
Nothing is free. It all came at a cost.
Yes, it is interesting how grace precedes the faith to believe. Amazing. Amazing grace. Someone ought to write a song.
What strikes me is the interdependence of God’s grace and our faith through which we are saved.