The Manna Jar
Do you know what the people of Israel kept in the Ark of the Covenant? Hebrews 9:4 …This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
It contained manna that was made into bread and sent from heaven to feed the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness. God provided this sweet tasting bread daily with the early morning dew. Exodus 16 is a rich story of God’s faithfulness and provision. I hope you have time to read it this week.
Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’
God’s people are a forgetful lot. He knew the Israelites would quickly forget about the heavenly gift of bread. It is also true of us today, we forget. We loose our memories of God talking with us softly in the pre-dawn light. The times we felt defeated in the circumstances of the day, then rescued by a friend, sent to encourage. We forget the scripture passage that brought new hope or a new direction.
John 10:10a The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; … The enemy lurks in the shadows to steal our memories of Kingdom experiences. He will do everything in his power to cause doubt. —Did I really hear from God? Did I only imagine His presence. Was it just a coincidence or did God provide for our bills last year when my husband lost his job?
Are you surprised we can forget Godly encounters? God is not. In the Old Testament, altars were constructed to mark significant events in which God provided. They were visible reminders of His faithfulness. Altars were also used as object lessons for the children, to teach God’s provision and presence in their lives. God knows our feeble memory fails. He command the altars made to remember Him. (Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7 Exodus 17:15; Joshua 4:4-7; etc.)
We need our memories of past encounters with God. Remembering what God has done in our lives, gives us hope for the future.
This year I will not surrender my memories made with Christ. I have my own manna jar. I have labeled it: encouragement, love, laughter, memories, and I might add more. It is a glass Mason jar. I can easily see the items inside.
Things I hope to place inside are:
- Scripture verses which significantly impact my life
- Photo of a friend who was Jesus to me
- Clippings from a blog that enriched my relationship with Christ
- A dried flower – I talk to God early in the garden
- A penny to remind me of a senseless act of kindness I offered to a stranger
- Each encounter with God I will remember with a spiritual marker, a token, placed in my manna jar
I want to remember my experiences with God this year…. and the next …and the next. One day I want to share them with my grandchildren.
I have a manna jar.
You never forget us Lord. Thank you for the past memories we have of your divine and miraculous presence in our lives. Thank you for the future memories we will make together. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today I placed my first memory-clipping inside. I can’t wait to see what will be in the jar at the end of the year.
Start your manna jar. What memory will you place there?
A lovely and very biblical idea, Lynn. I hope you will be very blessed. You are right. We are terribly forgetful. Making an intentional effort to remember what God has done builds our faith. Reading your post made me take a little mental time-travelling excursion. Yes, He has been good to me and has performed miracles in my presense. Thanks for the reminder.
Lynn that is such a loely idea. We used to have a Jehovah-Jireh jar and now we have a large bowl full of rocks–we only put a rock in when the Lord gives us something to be thankful for, a provision, a joy, a blessing. The bigger the thing the bigger the rock. We collect rocks whereever we go and and store them until they are needed. The rocks don’t have words on them but lookin over to the giant bowl on the floor by the fireplace is a wonderful reminder of all that He has done and all that He has yet to do.
What an awesome idea. And it is true we do need to be reminded of God encounters.
What a great idea.
I’ve been absent from here for a while, and from blogging to over the Holidays. I’m glad that I’m back. I moved my blog, now I got to figure out how to get the LWG button on my new blog in blogger, and would like to be added to the LWG blogroll. If you or another LWG person could help it would be appreciated. thanks.
This is a great idea. It’s much more visible than recording answered prayers in a journal, which I aim to do, am better at thinking about it than doing it. I love the stones idea too – my blog is named after the idea of the Ezekiel Stone – “God has helped us this far.” What encouragement that is!
Wow..I need to do something like that. Those thoughts of “coincidence” snuck into my mind today as I was asking myself about some moments of this years and if it was God at work. It’s terrible how quickly we forget all the God provides.
What a marvelous idea! I think I may just have to not only start one for myself, but what a GREAT idea for my son! His own manna jar! Thank you for blessing us with this great idea!! You rock!!
Oh, Lynn – this is so precious and what a wonderful idea :). I might just do that. What a great way to remember visually how God provides on a daily basis. Thank you, my friend.
Lynn, this is a great idea! Many years ago, we had a banner that we added felt “stones” to as remembrances, but it got to be rather bulky and hard to keep up with. The manna jar is perfect! Thank you.
Lynn, I too want to be mindful of all God’s gifts, blessings, and answered prayers. What an awesome idea and a beautiful article!
“No coincidences…just God’s providence”. I think I know what new memory I would like to add to my own “manna Jar”! Blessings to you dear sister. Hugs!!
I absolutely plan to do this. THANK YOU!! I used to have a joy box that I constructed years ago, and in it I put all the cards, notes, and small remembrances from friends and family. When I’d feel depressed or not cared for, I’d pull out these grace gifts and be reminded of God’s faithfulness to me in so many ways that I had forgotten. Need to do this kind of thing again. A manna jar! I love it.
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