(Part 3 of 3)
“Man does not live by bread alone,
but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Matthew
4:4
Have you
ever heard someone say, “I’m just not being fed?” This is often the excuse
given by members of our churches when they reach a place of spiritual dissatisfaction,
dryness or disenchantment, usually, as they are leaving to find a new church.
In some cases, there are real issues with the teaching that is taking place
from the pulpit. However, in most cases, what is really being said is “The
manna I am receiving here, isn’t satisfying me anymore.” Typically our solution
to this spiritual drought is to change churches or change channels and see what
other people can give us.
I want to
challenge those of you who have said such a thing to consider this….Perhaps, God
has caused the manna to stop in your life, so that you will dig, sow, reap and
fight for the Word yourself! It could be that He does not want you to get
comfortable with just receiving what other people have labored for! How about
instead we, according to 2 Timothy 2:15:
“Study to show thyself approved, a
workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (KJV)
We have to
stop being satisfied with tuning in to hear what our favorite television
teachers have to say. We have to stop being content with reading what our
favorite Christian authors have discovered in their studies. Although we may be
learning new things, we are still eating the manna. And as time goes on, we begin
to get selective about it. We start choosing only a select few that we will
receive from. We have to remember that manna doesn’t come from people, it comes
from God. It was given for your spiritual nourishment, not your spiritual
growth.
The manna
mentality leads people into becoming dissatisfied and couples it with a
constant desire for more. In Numbers 11, even though God faithfully provided
what they needed every day, the Israelites wanted more than manna. So God gave
it to them:
“Tell the people: Consecrate yourselves in
preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you
wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord
will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day,
or two days, or five days, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month- until it
comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it-because you have rejected the
Lord, who is among your, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever
leave Egypt?”
Numbers
11:18-20
They wanted “more”
from God, but didn’t want to raise a finger to get it! True growth does not
come from what is laid outside our tent doors. We grow when we are willing to
dig into the Word of God ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us. So
get digging!
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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