March 1

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you’.” —EXODUS 16:4

What do we know about ‘manna’, other than it was food God had rained down for the Hebrew people during their forty years in the desert? Everything God does, to the smallest detail, is planned out in advance and bears significance. The manna was representative of far more than the food God gave His people. 

The Israelites were six weeks into their journey across the Sinai Desert when God miraculously provides them with manna. Each person was to gather as much as they needed for the day; no more, no less and on the sixth day, gather enough for two days because there would be no provision on the seventh day. But there were those who gathered more than their daily quota, and what they didn’t eat had turned to maggots by morning. This illustrates there is nothing stale in what God does. Jeremiah writes, “…for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22). God was teaching His people to depend on Him for a fresh supply everyday, which is symbolic of how our relationship with Christ is meant to be, fresh and new every morning.

However, the deepest significance manna is symbolic of is found in John, Chapter 6. Jesus engaged the Jews in conversation and said to them, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:32-35). Jesus portrays this provision of fresh manna every morning as a picture of Himself. It is a beautiful picture of the freshness that comes new every day in the provision of life, strength and nourishment we are meant to have in the fullness of Christ. 

God’s purpose is not only to bring us out of sin, but that we enter Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. Getting to know Christ and sharing a deep, meaningful relationship with Him is coming into the land of Canaan. Just as every day is a new day, the Spirit of Christ is fresh and new every morning; never stale or dry, because Jesus, alone, is the bread that satisfies.

PRAYER: Thank You, Jesus, for the wonderful nourishment of your indwelling Spirit who fills me with You, fresh and new every morning. 

TO REFLECT UPON: Do I trust Jesus for my daily provision?