Thought for Today

Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.  

Jeremiah 31:2 Thus says the LORD: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest,  

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.  

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--  

How much is enough? That is not a trick question. It is a real, serious and important question. How much is enough? Before answering too quickly, think about whether there could be an absolute, universal, quantifiable answer. Does your answer depend on demanding more detail? How much of what?

For many of us, the first response might be in terms of finance and economics. Our society and culture might seem to suggest that there can never be enough money, never enough ‘stuff’. It has been suggested that God’s action in the story about the manna and the doves of the Exodus  was an object lesson in sufficiency. Note in Exodus 16:4 above those critical 4 words, “enough for that day.” God provided the requisite nourishment for each tribe, each family, each individual daily. The fleeing slaves were not able to survive on their own in the desert. They had no survival skills. God provided everything they needed in exactly the necessary quantity. God taught God’s children to be totally reliant on God’s grace. God demonstrated God’s covenant faithfulness in the most intimate, basic, elemental way possible, by daily feeding each of God’s children.

People being people, certainly some were tempted to gather up a little extra each morning, “just in case.” “Exodus 16:16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.' 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.” God knew exactly what was necessary; God provided exactly what was necessary. Grace in the wilderness.

The applicable lesson in God’s grace seems so obvious to me as a Christian. Repeatedly throughout the New Testament we see demonstrations of God’s grace, God’s covenant faithfulness. By definition, grace is “Unmerited favor. God’s grace is extended to sinful humanity in providing salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ that is not deserved, and withholding the judgment that is deserved.” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 120)

God demonstrated grace in the manna and the birds of the Exodus. God demonstrated grace in the Incarnation of the Christ. God demonstrates grace to us today in the truth of Paul’s words long ago to the church in Ephesus.

Even without accompaniment by bagpipes, Amazing Grace is one of my favorite hymns. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound . . . I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” Grace truly is amazing. God’s unmerited favor. Demonstrated to those slaves whom God graciously freed and led out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. God’s grace freely given in the wilderness of Sinai. “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come’ ‘Tis grace has brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home.”

I know, as a Christian, that God’s grace was in the Incarnation of God’s Creative Word, in Jesus the Christ. Through my faith, I know that “My God has promised good to me, whose word my hope secures; God will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.”

I also know God’s grace in the words of God’s Son, “John 14:2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

Accept God’s grace, believe, trust God,

Pastor Ray