Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.
"On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, "At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt;
and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?" Exodus 16:4-7
Manna was given to His people with restrictions. They could collect as much as they could eat in one day and one day only, except for Fridays which preceded the Sabbath. Any excess gathered would rot and be worse that worthless to the possessors.
The gift accepted would rebound to gratitude. The memory of how God delivered them from captivity and the magnificent glory of the God who provided their base needs.
Let's see how Jesus applied that to Himself and to us.
Jesus said to them, " I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:35
Jesus is our manna. We can not stock up on Him on Sundays and think that it will carry us through the week. As a matter of fact, any excess taken in on Sunday will rot before the sun comes up on Monday. Is it any wonder that the church of Jesus is so weak and timid today. We are under-nourished and sickly because we have accepted the generous gift of God but don't understand the conditions.
Stop right now and think about your week for the last 7 days. Have you skipped a meal or two? We all know what crises would arise if we actually missed a physical meal or two but we don't connect the crisis in our spiritual health when we miss the manna.
He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3
The gift of daily manna is not about nourishment alone, but is also a gift to keep us humble. We simply can not build a life in Jesus without clinging to the source.
He humbled us and let us be hungry. He then fed us that we might understand how desperately we need Him. We then would seek after Him like a starving child.
We have dropped the ball. We are indeed hungry but we seek to fill ourselves with television, food, alcohol, movies, sex and a myriad of other temporary fixes for our desperate hunger.
Return to the Bread of Life and return daily. Experience real life!
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