The manna in the wilderness

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. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

Exodus 16v3-5

Earlier this week, I was reading Exodus Chapter 16 and learning about the wonder of the manna in the wilderness. As the chapter began, the people murmured against the Lord. They would rather have had a full stomach in Egypt than an empty one in the will of the Lord.

This challenged me about my own life. It is easy to settle down to the routine “necessities” of life in this world, with all its compulsory trinkets. Oh, just to be in the will of the Lord! Even if all the other things must go. How have I got so dependent upon a smartphone when I spent the first 24 years of my life without a mobile phone because they did not really exist, even then, I have only had a smartphone for 13 years.

How lovely, though, to notice how the Lord responded to their murmuring, not in judgement but in the gracious provision of the manna. Provision of what they needed, enough but not too much. How wonderful it is that the Lord responds even to my grumbling heart with the offer of further ministry of and from the Lord Jesus!

I was struck by the source of the manna – Heaven.

It is wonderful that we are fed daily by the true bread that came down from heaven – Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6v32-33 (NIV)

Beyond this, I saw the amazing consistency and certainty of the manna – every day for 40 years. Amazing to think that God fed everyone every day for 40 years until they reached the promised land.

How unfaithful I am, yet every day

He will minister grace to my heart and spirit, without fail and without fading.

The Lord impressed on me the sufficiency of the manna (v4). Enough and spare for us in the Lord Jesus now and every day. Abundance in Christ – our joy unspeakable, the peace that passes all understanding.

The end of this, though, leaves me recognising the collection of the manna – the responsibility of the people. This was to be done daily to keep it fresh, and we cannot store treasures for tomorrow but instead need to daily be in His word and in His presence in prayer. This has made me re-assess the time I spend with the "other things". God has made the provision, but the Israelites' enjoyment was in the collection and appropriation. Hence, I must collect and enjoy my daily manna from heaven. It’s a question of priorities! I must find Him first and most important of all.

Those who stored up and kept for future days found that the things they should have enjoyed before were now a stench and unprofitable to them. We live too long on past enjoyments. We must gather fresh every day, and that takes time. So, I must bid farewell to the good that I might gather the best!

Just a longing for spiritual freshness fills my soul right now.