Would you eat moldy bread????
One recent morning, I was enjoying some “alone” time with God. I was pondering how much time I had (and hadn’t) been spending with the Lord this summer. I had not been spending time with the Lord on a DAILY basis. God used an image of a drink of water to illustrate how thirsty my spirit had been for Him. You can read about it here.
I had been depending on a weekly dose of God…..filling up on Him at Sunday morning church service or my Monday evening Bible Study group, but not seeking Him daily. God asked me if I would go without a meal for a whole week.
Ponder this. Imagine for a moment how hungry you would be without any food for a whole week. Your body would be weak. Your mind would be distracted, thinking about food. Unless we are fasting, we would never deprive our bodies from nourishment for such a long a period of time.
So why did I deprive my heart of His nourishment for a whole week? I realized when I don’t daily spend time with God, feeding on His Word, filling my hunger with Him, seeking Him with all my heart, I become WEAK spiritually….. My mind becomes distracted, not focused on the Lord. And, when I am STARVING, I tend to look to other things to fill me….relationships, computer time, TV, shopping, food….
God also brought to my mind the story of the Israelites in the desert. I remembered how He sent manna from Heaven to them DAILY to satisfy their hunger. They weren’t allowed to store or keep the manna. They had to gather it DAILY. If they tried to keep it, the manna became moldy and infested with maggots. God wanted them to depend upon Him DAILY.
I thought about how I was depending on spiritual lessons from the past to satisfy me….to fill me. God reminded me that He would teach me new things each day. He would fill my hunger for Him as I sought Him anew daily. I, too, need fresh manna each day to fill my hunger for Him.
“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.” Exodus 16:4
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry’…..” John 6:35
Father God, thank You that You love me so much that You want to spend time with ME daily. Thank You that You have created this hunger in me to be filled by You. Help me to fill up on You daily. Remind me gently, Lord, to always seek You and only You. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
- Worthy
- The Absolutes of God
Beautiful post, Lori! It’s so nice to connect e-mail but wish we could chat over a latte!
Amen to that, Tracy. Yes, a daily dose of provision is truly needed…I know I need it.
Great analogy between the manna and our daily bread (spiritual needs).
AaHaaa! I see. Awesome devotion.
smooches,
Larie
Such a lovely post, bless you.
Wow, I’ve been doing exactly that this summer! I can definately relate! I now see that time with God isn’t just something we should do, but something we need to do so that we don’t go hungry 🙂
Great post!