Devotional - April 6, 2004

In the forty years of wandering in the wilderness when the Israelites had nothing to eat, God gave them food from above. Manna was said to be wafer-like and sweet to the taste and every morning they had enough of it to last the day. But should they try to save some for the next, they were out of luck for the manna would rot and stink some time during the night.

Do you ever wonder what manna tasted like? It's easy to criticize the Israelites for complaining after a few days of eating it, but are we really any different from them? Each day, we desire variety and lots of it. Anything, no matter how good, will lose its savor after eating it everyday for an extended period of time. So what was God teaching them?

God more than met the need of the people in the wilderness. They were dying of thirst and hunger and God met their need. Years later Jesus would pray, "Give us this day or daily bread." He knew what God wants us to learn. We should trust God for this day and wait on Him (pray) as tomorrow approaches with its unique needs. The manna was food sufficient needed for survival, but the people looked at it as a menu selection with limited options and complained.

In Deuteronomy, we read of the lessons God was teaching these people and its no different from what He wants to teach us. The people didn't have to go searching for food to eat. God brought it to them plus He provided more than enough to satisfy the hunger of every man, woman and child. The spiritual lesson here are so many I can't list them all. But I call your attention to something Moses told them: "The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." Dt 30:14

God desires that each of us reach out to Him because He wants to satisfy us with blessings only He can provide. He's not far from us and has blessed us with His word so we will obey Him. But is the word of God in your heart and on your lips? If so, then you're probably obeying God, but if not, you may be like the Israelites: God's blessing is never on time and never enough to satisfy you today and be in the fridge for tomorrow. After all, you don't want to get in the habit of trusting God every day, do you?

Give us this day our daily bread.