Don’t Live on Leftovers
Opening Prayer
What do you need? How has God met your needs in the past? Let past provision build your faith as you pray today.
Read Exodus 16:17–26
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What or whom do you put your trust in besides God?God is very precise in his provision for his people. And he is practical. He wants them—and us—to enjoy a day’s rest with nothing to distract them or us from worship. The lessons God taught in the desert were designed to become a pattern for healthy living.
Psalm 78 describes this miracle as “a table in the wilderness” (19) and manna as the “bread of angels” (25). But the Israelites’ obedience was short-lived. “In spite of all this, they kept on sinning” (32).
God’s instructions to us are precise too. But often we pay no attention. How like the Israelites we are! But God is patient. He goes on providing in spite of our grumbles and lack of trust. The manna did not stop for 40 years, until they had eaten some of the produce of the Promised Land (Josh. 5:12).
We can trust God to meet our needs precisely, practically and patiently. We might be tested, but God delights to keep his promises. “God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
Apply
What things are you worrying about? Write them down and turn the worries over to God each day this week.
Closing prayer
God, I bring to You my needs and the needs of others I am praying for today, asking You to provide for our needs abundantly.
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