Sleeping with Bread
Opening Prayer
“Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more” (William Williams, 1717–1791). Thank You, Lord, that Your Word is the bread of life. Feed me now.
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
And he said to them, “Come apart by yourselves to a desert place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).
Dennis, Sheila Fabricant and Matthew Linn share the following story in
their book about the Examen, Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life: “During the bombing raids of World War II, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reassure them. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children could finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them, ‘Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow.’”
The Israelites seem to have had similar fears. OK, God provided today—we ate the quails and manna—but what about tomorrow? Rather than trusting God’s promise given through Moses, they try holding on to some manna, just in case, only to find it inedible the next morning. On the Sabbath they still need to learn that God is able to do his own preserving, as well! Paying
attention to detail is important. Even so, the following verses show that they still lack the ability to trust God (27–30).
They each have enough (18); equality of distribution is an important lesson to learn (cf. 2 Cor. 8:14,15), and so is daily dependence on God (Matt. 6:24–27). Furthermore, God’s provision of aweekly day of rest (23) is a new gift (see Mark 2:27)—something they would never have experienced as slaves. Are these lessons you need to relearn? Are you aware of the needs of
others and in a position to share what you have? Do so! Are you ever anxious about the future and whether you can make ends meet? Remind yourself that although he may test you in the process, God cares about you (1 Pet. 5:7). Do you take seriously the need for regular rest and refreshing? If you think you are too busy to stop and rest, then you may be too busy to notice the quicksand in which you are standing.
Apply
Talk through these questions honestly with God.
Closing prayer
Lord, as Your Church travels through the wilderness of this world, provide for us as generously as You did for your people Israel.
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