There’s an old saying that says you are what you eat. Simple yet true. What you ingest, your body will absorb trace amounts of and over time, it will change your body. What you eat might cause you to lose weight and become more lean but it seems in Texas that’s a problem few of us have. Crispy fried chicken, cheesy Mexican food and gooey pizza call out to us to sample their tasty wares. A regular diet of these can have you slipping into a new notch on your belt. A problem that unfortunately increases with the amount of gray hair we produce. Huh, maybe it’s just the age and not all the tacos I eat that are really stretching my belt? Nice try Dan.
Today I came across an interesting verse in my study of Deuteronomy 8. It’s one of those quick little tidbits in God’s Word that if you’re speed-reading along, you’ll miss. You see, sometimes God’s miracles are big and flashy. Sure, He can part seas, turn water into wine and darken the entire sky for hours, but many times His miracles are small, simple and easily missed. Be careful today that you don’t miss a miracle from God because you’re speed-reading through your day. Let’s take a look at our easily missed miracle verse.
“Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” Deut. 8:4
At first glance you’re probably thinking that I have finally cracked and gone over the edge but not yet, maybe tomorrow. Let’s put a little context on this verse. Go all the way back to Exodus 16 and let’s recall the story of manna and the Israelites. They had fled the brutal slavery of Egypt and in doing so God parted the Red Sea and allowed the Jews to safely pass through while then closing the waters and destroying the entire Egyptian army that sought to kill God’s people. In this particular miracle you could say God killed quite a few birds with one stone. After passing through the sea though, the Israelites found themselves firmly on the wrong side of it and in the middle of the barren desert. No food and no water. A massive problem for a nation of 2 million men, women and children along with livestock. But nothing’s a big problem for God. The people cry out in their hunger and God sends manna. Manna in Hebrew means “what is it" because no one had ever seen anything like it. You see, manna started falling from the sky in the early mornings and it looked like snow that covered the ground. The people were instructed to collect it and use it as food. Here’s a few verses on the details of God’s manna.
“And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, it is manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, this is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.” Ex 16:15
“And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Ex 16:31
“Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil.” Num 11:7-9
From these verses you can see that it was tasty, filling and apparently very flexible and could be prepared in a variety of ways. I bet this made for a very interesting church potluck. “What did you bring Betty?” “Oh manna…wow. Looks great.” An interesting fact about the manna was the strict rules God gave them in collecting and using it. Remember these, we’ll visit them later in another vein. First, each person was to collect their own manna daily. Second, each person was to only collect enough manna for one day. If you tried to horde the manna it would rot overnight. Lastly, on Saturday, twice as much manna would fall for you to collect because Sunday was the Sabbath and you were not allowed to work as the Sabbath was a day to rest in the Lord.
So, manna was the food that God provided to sustain the people as they wandered in the desert for 40 years. This brings us back to our study verse and the title of our study today. You see the second part of our study verse is dealing directly with manna. Let me expound.
I read about a missionary doctor that served many years ago in Asia. In the area he served in, the people had a very simple, very routine diet. Because of what they could grow and the limited amount of trade they could engage in, they had a very limited variety of food. As a result, they were nutritionally lacking from a well-balanced diet and lacked all the vitamins and minerals the human body requires for good health. The results were a disease called Beriberi which means “weakness.” Beriberi is, “a disease causing inflammation of the nerves and heart failure, caused by a deficiency of key vitamins.” Do you know what one of the symptoms of Beriberi was? Swollen feet.
Now think about this carefully. The Israelites were not just strolling around a botanical garden for 40 years, they were traipsing through a hot, arid, rocky and mountainous wilderness. It would have been hot, strenuous and very exhaustive. But folks, for 40 years, God gave them a perfectly balanced diet in the bread that He provided for them. The manna that God provided His people was all that they needed, even to the point that God tells us, “even your feet did not swell for the entire 40 years.” A miracle of nutrition, given to His people by the creator of the human body. He was giving them exactly what they needed and they didn’t even know it.
Now let’s tow this line back to today and in a larger context look at the verse that appears right before our study verse:
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deut 8:3
Folks, God’s Word, the Bible, is the true bread of life. God does not give us the bread of manna today, He gives us His very Words to live by. We do not live solely by bread that we physically eat, we live by the wisdom, holiness and goodness of the very Words of God. And folks, to parallel this miracle of proper nutrition in the desert, we will find that if we look at the nutrition label of God’s Word, it has every single vitamin and mineral we will need for a spiritual life that is full of redemption, salvation, peace, freedom, wisdom, patience and righteousness. Friends, if you feast daily on the Word of God, you will not experience the swollen feet of walking this weary world. As you feast on the bread of life, God will sustain you and give you everything that you will ever need for a well-balanced, spiritually healthy life. What a miracle we see in the power of God’s Holy Word.
But recall those few points about manna we mentioned earlier. First, each person had to collect their own manna every day. Folks, are you collecting the bread of life every day for yourself? It is God’s clear instruction that you do. No one can do it for you. Not your Pastor, your Bible teacher or your spouse. You must rise each morning and go collect your manna. Second, it’s a daily process. You can’t collect three days’ worth of manna on Friday and then take the weekend off, God says it doesn’t work that way. You see, God says if you feed your body physically every day, which you do, then you’d better be feeding your soul with His Word every single day. What happens when you don’t eat for 3 days? Your body suffers and goes into starvation mode. If you skip enough days of feeding on God’s Word, your spirit will suffer and just as BeriBeri means “weakness”, your spirit will become weak. And a weak spirit will be wide open to the attacks of satan, to the sin of this world and to the temptations of your sinful flesh that you battle constantly. And finally, take a day off from your grind and worship the provider of your daily manna. If you’re not a part of a local body of believers, go church hunting this week and find a place to sing, pray and feast on the bread of life. In doing so you will be united with brothers and sisters doing the same and in that act, you will bless God in your obedience to return praise to Him for his well-balanced diet that He so graciously provides.
Folks, are you planning on having breakfast, lunch or dinner today? As you plan your earthly meal, don’t forget the most important and the most nutritious meal of the day. The invaluable time spent with God studying His Holy Word.
Be blessed in your Godly nutrition.
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