Question Atè

"What is manna?" This is the question I got one night sitting on the couch at the student center. (Atè is the name students address me by, meaning older sister.) As I began to try and answer the question more questions arose in my head!

Growing up in a Christian home in the south, I had the opportunity to learn almost every popular bible story. From a young age we learn about Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the ark, Moses and the Israeilites, Joseph and the coat of many colors, Daniel and the lion's den, and Jonah and the whale. In most of these stories we learn about the main characters and how God was a part of the story. Seldom did I ever see or learn the significance of how the story helped pave the way for the Messiah or how God was at work in a larger story. However, I did learn what God had done and what God could do. This was something I am realizing I took for granted.

When I heard the question "what is manna?" I thought about all the history bible lessons I had been taught and how it has led to my understanding of the gospel and understanding of scripture. I realized that the person on the other side of this conversation may not have had those same opportunities. I then began to explain who the Israelites and Moses were and how God supplied them with manna or the "bread of life" in the desert. In my "old school" terms I made the comment that God would rain down manna, and the Israelites would gather what they needed for that day to sustain them. He stopped me and said "rained?", questioning like raining as in the water rain we recieve! I said "yeah, rain!" His face showed of awe and without doubt. He knows God. He knows God is the key to eternal life, and he knows God is the bread of life because of what God tells us in scripture and because of what God is doing in his heart.

This was a moment of which God also gave me manna. It was a divinely supplied source of spiritual nourishment for me! He learned more about the greatness of God, and I learned more about the greatness of who God still is!

Living in the United States and growing up in church we learn all about what God did for people in the Old and New Testament, but we forget about what God is doing now and the things He still can do!

In our conversation about manna being the food miraculously given to the Israelites from God to sustain life, we connected it to Jesus being the bread of life, the sustainer of life, and I was able to experience manna as a reminder that God gives us what we need at the moment we need it. In that moment he gave me spiritual nourishment! God allowed the Israelites to get exactly what they needed for each day, and in the same way, God gives us exactly what we need each day.

God has given us manna through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you have received this gift then you are called to share Jesus with those who are starving for this life. If we are not sharing this gift then we are hoarding the food for life from others who are dying, dying of starvation. The Lord let the Israelites gather what they needed for each day. If they gathered more than a days worth then the excess supply would spoil over night.

Blessings from the Lord are a great thing, but they were never meant to be hoarded and kept a secret. As followers of Christ we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves. If my neighbor is starving why would I sit inside and not let them eat of the bread that I have in my home? The same goes for our spiritual lives. We should not hold on to the manna God has blessed us with, but we should share it with anyone and everyone who needs it.

Satan's goal is to deny the world access to Jesus. If we have already accepted Jesus then it's to late for that goal for him. However, his goal then shifts to just keeping us quiet. I hate to say that out of 27 years of my life Satan has won most days because of my silence about Christ. If we are not actively sharing Jesus with others then we are giving Satan victory in our lives.

The Lord has been gracious to Clark and I this past week by supplying us with spiritual nourshiment through the beauty of the work of his hands in the sunrises and sunsets, sending students to share the love of Christ with and the salvation of students! We are humbled by the blessings He continues to give us.

If you are reading this and I have never had a conversation with you about Jesus and how he is the key to eternal life, please forgive me for keeping this from you! Jesus says "I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me!" He is the bread of life, the one thing that can nourish us for eternal life.

If you are reading this and you have tasted the goodness of Christ, then don't let Satan win today; tell someone about it!

Emerzon, if you are reading this, thank you! Thank you for asking me that question that God has used to encourage, convict and compel my heart!

Lord, thank you for being the bread of life! Thank you for showing us through scripture who you are and who you will continue to be! I ask for forgiveness on days I let Satan win -days where I fail to share Jesus with those around me who are starving for you! Lord I pray that anyone who reads this will come to know you in a personal way and have a personal encounter with you! Lord I thank you for your love and your promises! -Amen!