2012. 3. 15. 19:23
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Morning Mana
There's a story of a young lady who enrolled in a poetry class. She was not necessarily inclined to read poetry, but she bought the necessary text book, because it was a required class for her curriculum. Before the semester started and before she met the professor she decided to get a head start and look into the book. As much as she tried to get into the poems in the book it wasn't very meaningful to her. She gave up the idea of getting a head start and decided to go along with the flow. When the first day of class came she didn't realize that her professor was a young, handsome bachelor who happened to be every woman's dream. The greater shock was that he was the author of the assigned textbook. Her heart melted as she got to know this young teacher. All of the sudden all the love poems in the book seemed as if they were directed to her and with a renewed interest she couldn't get enough of those poems that seemed so dry and dull before.
There's a love letter addressed to us from God called the Holy Bible. Often times it can seem dry and dull, but as we begin to see a little bit of how much God loves us we are drawn to know more about this love. All that is necessary is a little spark of an interest to get to know God more. The Holy Spirit will then blow upon that spark and fan that flame and as long as we have the desire to know Him more God will kindle a flame in you that cannot be quenched.
Look with me at this simple line of logic: you cannot do the works of God unless you love Him; you cannot love Him unless you know Him; you cannot know Him unless you spend time getting to know who He is. The glue that bonds all relationships is communication. That means that you must talk to Him through prayer and listen to Him through His word. It is a two-way communication.
When the children of Israel walked through the wilderness Manna came down from heaven in the morning. They were to gather enough just for the day. If they gathered any more than what was necessary for that day, it rotted. They could not store it for the next day; it was only good for that day alone. Additionally, when they were too lazy to gather the manna in the morning and tried to go look for it in the day time it would melt and there would be nothing left to gather.
I believe this was a lesson that God was trying to teach. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” The Bible is likened to bread because we understand that physical food is essential for our physical growth. It is just the same in the spiritual dimension as well. We must get up early in the morning to gather the spiritual Manna before it melts. Jesus, the eternal God of the universe, felt that He had to practice this. Mark 1:35 says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, an departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Why is morning the best time? You don't know what is ahead of you for that day. Jesus said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil day of” (Matthew 6:34). It is as if God has measured how much you have grown and allowed a certain amount of temptation that you can bear to come to you for that day.
1 Corinthians 10:13 confirms this. You can choose to face this temptation without strengthening your spiritual body by digesting God's word, but that is about as foolish as going to battle without an armor. God's word is like a shield against sin. God's word will keep us from sinning, but we have to take the time to gather it and to bake it ourselves.
We often don't think of the importance of spending that morning time with God because we can't see the spiritual world. But we all know that to die spiritually is much worse than dying physically. If that is the case, then doesn't it stand to reason that spiritual bread is more important than physical bread? Job says it very nicely. “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).
I know that as students we can be quite busy. I've been there. But as important fiber is for the body your interview with God is of greater importance. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the things that we have to do that we lose sight of what is really important in the end.
Let us not lose sight of what is really important in life. Let us form the habit of rising up a great while before day to seek God's will day by day.
posted by nation