John 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
In this passage of scripture Christ draws on the giving of the literal manna to portray spiritual lessons in the giving of the spiritual manna, for there are many similarities which should be carefully considered, that have a direct bearing on our daily lives, and also on our eternal destiny. The bread that was provided for the Hebrews by God was very best that any person could have eaten, in that it supplied all of the nutritional needs in one balanced formula that tasted very good. However, it could not stave off the approach of death, for all who ate of it later died, some of natural causes, others, because of spiritual issues.
The spiritual manna that Jesus offers is Himself, for just as we need temporal food to survive in this life, just so we need spiritual food to survive, both now and into the future. Christ must be invited into our daily experience, if as Christians we are to withstand the gravitational pull of sin and self, as we travel the straight and narrow pathway. It is not good enough for us to have a great initial experience with the Lord at our conversion, but we also need to be replenished with His Spirit everyday, if we are to maintain the victories He gives to us. Some Christians run well for a while, but later in our experience, we sometimes begin to suffer from spiritual fatigue, in that we become weary of well-doing and thus become slack in developing characters that will fit us for this world and the next.
The way that we should stay the course, is by looking unto Jesus each day so that our strength and impetus can be renewed. As the Hebrews gathered the Manna before the sun waxed hot, just so we need to gather the bread of life before the cares of the world with all of its attendant responsibilities and problems bear down on us, for it is a known fact, that when we postpone our daily devotions to sometime later on in the day after we have begun working, it is not only difficult to concentrate on Jesus, but the vital lessons we need often only make a momentary impression, before we are again called back to work.
David understood the importance of seeking God in the quiet hours of the early morning, for it is at times such as these that the voice of God becomes more distinct in our minds. Let's read:
Psalms 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
And even Jesus, when he walked this earth as a man in His incarnate form, also realized the necessity of seeking God before the responsibilities of life came down upon Him, for He set us the example so that we might live victoriously as He did. Let's read:
Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
In many Christian households, the personal devotions of individual members are left until the hustle and bustle of life has begun. The children start crying for breakfast, the television is on, and food is being prepared, which then sends an inviting smell of bread or some other delicacy throughout the house. With these conditions and distractions, it becomes much more difficult to partake of the spiritual food that only Christ can give. In this matter we are in great need of reform, for we are never to let the duties and cares of this life to usurp the time that has been given to God for our spiritual nutrition, for whenever this is permitted on a continued basis, a corresponding, gradual declension in spirituality and discernment will be seen.
If Christ who knew no sin saw it necessary to pray and seek The Father's face each day, then we who have" fallen and cannot get up" by ourselves should deem it as being totally essential for our existence, victory, and sanity. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reminds of the urgent necessity of seeking the Manna from heaven, for we cannot run the race that is set before us, without looking to Jesus to strengthen and help us every step of the way. let's read:
Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
May we eat and be filled of the bread which comes down from heaven each day, so that we can live victoriously by abiding always in Christ. God bless!