Your Daily Bread

When Jesus tangles with the devil in the desert, the first temptation he faces springs from his hunger. “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” (I bet!) “The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’” (Matt 4:2-3) Jesus famously fires back, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (4:4) I like how Eugene Peterson put it in The Message: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

Words from God’s mouth were Jesus’s bread. They were what sustained him.

Forty days in the desert, hunger and an offer of bread: this scene is a sort of reenactment of Israel’s desert wanderings, for 40 years, which included rumbling stomachs, grumbling words, and the daily miracle of bread (manna) from God.

The first time they complain to Moses about food is in Exodus chapter 16. This is when the Lord begins to provide the daily bread for the Israelites. There’s one strange condition attached to the manna, though:

Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” 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… Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (16:19-21)

The manna was literally daily bread: it arrived every day, and it lasted only for the day. Tomorrow, you’d have to get back out there and gather it again.

Now, remember what Jesus said about bread in the desert. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Words from God’s mouth were his bread. They sustained him in a way literal bread couldn’t—it takes more than that to stay alive.

If we’re going to follow Jesus’s example, we need words from God’s mouth to feed us. We feed our bodies with meat and grain and fruits and vegetables, and we feed our hearts, souls, and minds with God’s words.

And, like the Israelites discovered in Exodus 16, this work must be done daily. Theologian Walter Moberly writes, “Yhwh’s bread is not the sort that can be kept overnight. It can only be collected afresh each new day.” The bread we need from God, his words, won’t keep. You can’t live today off of what you gathered yesterday. Reading scripture, listening for the Holy Spirit in prayer, conversing with brothers and sisters on the journey alongside you—these things nourish us, but what you did yesterday, last Sunday, last week, isn’t enough to sustain you today. You have to get back out there and gather it again.

What are you doing today to feed your heart, soul, and mind? Other voices in the world will gladly feed your anger, suspicion, greed, prejudices, and lust with their words, every single day. So, what are you doing to maintain a healthy diet, to receive the words you need the most?

“It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

Listen to today's devotional right here!

Is It Time to Get Moving?

You probably know the story of the Hebrews crossing the Red Sea after their escape from Egypt. You might have that scene from The Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt permanently stamped in your memory from when you were a kid.

What you may not remember—what I didn’t remember but noticed recently—is something the Lord says to Moses just before the epic miracle on the beach that day. Moses offers the people this rousing call to courage and faith:

“Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

Stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today! I read that and think, ‘Yeah! That’s it! Sometimes you just have to put yourself in God’s hands and leave all the rescuing up to him.’

But then, in the next verse, the Lord speaks: “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!” (14:15)

Moses told them, “stand still.” God said, ‘Why are you just standing there? Get moving!’

Sometimes you just have to put yourself in God’s hands and leave all the rescuing up to him. But this was not one of those times. This was one of those times when you need to get busy doing your part to see God’s purposes accomplished in the world. Even in a moment that demands a miracle, like the Red Sea crossing, you may have a part to play. Your efforts, however small they feel, may be a part of God’s solution. A critical part, even. The Lord could have evaporated every single drop of water in that sea, and it wouldn’t have done any good if the people hadn’t laced up their shoes and walked across.

Thomas More, a saint in the Catholic Church, once prayed, “The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for.” Praying and crying out to God are beyond valuable. Yet, you shouldn’t settle for prayer if God is sending you out as a laborer. When the Lord says “get moving,” it’s time to get up off your knees.

Think about the struggles you’re enduring, the dreams you’re concocting, and the needs you’re staring at right now. Are you standing still, watching for the Lord’s rescue, when you really ought to get moving? Don’t stop praying! But do start considering: how could I be a part of God’s solution?

Gripe like Moses

A few weeks back, I wrote about blaming God and how so many of the prayers in the book of Psalms are quick to let God have it when life goes off the rails. I was reminded of that recently while reading in Exodus. Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh for the first time in Exodus 5. But this initial “Let me people go!” backfires spectacularly:

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ (5:6-8)

Instead of securing the Hebrews’ freedom, Moses and Aaron only made their workload heavier.

When the Israelite foremen give Moses a piece of their mind for getting them into this mess, Moses turns around and gives God a piece of his:

Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (5:22-23)

Moses places the blame squarely on God. You brought trouble on this people. I spoke to Pharaoh in your name. You have not rescued your people. Moses knows how to point the finger at heaven as well as any of the psalmists.

Now, the psalms are prayers, meaning they are our words to God. What you don’t get in Psalms is God’s response. But in Exodus, the Lord speaks.

So, how does God respond to Moses’s resentful accusations? Does he chastise his servant? Maybe put him in his place? Does he threaten him for his impertinence, or explain that Moses simply can’t understand his mysterious ways?

Chapter 6, verse 1:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let [my people] go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

God doesn't chastise or threaten. God tells Moses: this isn't over yet. It's as if he says, 'You think I did all of this, Moses? I'm about to show you what I can do.'

God doesn’t berate Moses for his accusations and anger but reassures him that things won’t always be this way. Because Moses wasn’t wrong. The Lord agreed with him: this isn’t the way things should be. We do need to do something about this.

The next time you find yourself ready to gripe at God, to tell the Lord, “Why have you brought all this trouble? Was this your plan? You haven’t rescued us at all!”, don’t reverently bite your tongue. Go on and gripe, like Moses. Tell the Lord exactly what you think. 

You might be surprised to hear God respond: ‘You’re right. And I’m going to do something about it.’

You can listen to this week's devotional here: