Modern Manna
God knows and provides for our needs. Jesus came to help us learn to trust God and find food that nourishes our souls.
“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God...Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices...Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you"
Exodus 23:2, 4-6, 19, 24-25, 32
The principle of bringing firstfruits is about demonstrating trust in God's provision. In the famous story of Cain and Abel, it was Abel's offering of the best that he could give to God, his firstfruits, that pleased God. Giving your best, first, is a step of faith that God will provide the rest of what you will need.
God wants to teach us that His math is not our math. Kingdom math is different than linear, logical math. In our normal accounting, when we give something away, we have less. In the kingdom, when we give back to God we see how He multiplies our offering and we have more. What does your giving say about your trust in God? Are you giving your best? Your firstfruits?
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” Psalms 73:1, 24-26, 28
David has learned an important principle. The desires of your flesh do not produce what is best for your heart. David sings that his heart's desire is to be close to God. He knows that His Heavenly Father will never fail him, nor fail to provide for him. He has learned to seek first the kingdom and all his needs will be met.
Do you follow the same order of operations? How do your desires align with God on what is best for your flesh and your heart?
“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor."
Proverbs 22:1-2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 24-25
Wisdom will tell us that when we give to those in need, we are lending to God, and He will abundantly repay us. The way that the generous are blessed is through God refilling the cup of those who have poured out what they could to those who could not feed themselves.
How important is generosity to you? How has giving to others shaped your trust in God?
“I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.
Jeremiah 7:3, 5-7, 13, 23-24, 28
There is a joy that we can experience when we are generous, but there is an enemy to our lives that wants us to close our ears to others. Have you ever heard the voice of anxiety speak to you and warn you not to help when you could? Have you heard fear speak the lie that you will not have what you need if you help others?
We hear competing voices and we have to choose what voices have authority in our lives. Do we listen to fear or faith? Generosity or worry?
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?...Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted...When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets...they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat...Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.
John 6:1-2, 5, 8-13, 27, 30-31, 33-35, 40, 47-48, 67-68
Jesus does the miraculous in this story as He meets the needs of thousands of people, before they even ask Him, by praying to the God who provides. Jesus knew Kingdom math that others did not. 5+2=5000 remainder 12. Where do you need to stop limiting God or what is possible? Where do you need to take a step of faith and see that when we give our best to God, He gives us better than we could imagine.
The God who provided manna from heaven to calm the fears of the people in the wilderness is the same God that sent Jesus to perform signs to show God is faithful yesterday, today and tomorrow. What does it mean for our lives? It means we can be generous as our Father in Heaven is generous. We can step out in trust with our firstfruits because the God who made the world that produces the food we eat is trustworthy. Most importantly, we can learn to live with freedom in our hearts knowing that God loves us and will never fail to feed our deepest needs through the Bread of Life, His Son Jesus Christ.