Moses

February 29

Exodus 16:1-6, 13-15, 31

Bread from Heaven

The Israelites had only been in the desert for a few weeks when they started complaining to Moses. “If only we had stayed in Egypt,” they said. “It would have been better for us to have died there. Back in Egypt we had pots of meat and as much food as we wanted.”

Then the Lord said, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. You are to go out every day and gather only enough for that day. Only on the sixth day must you gather twice as much as on the other days and keep it for the next day—the day of rest.”

Then God sent them food every day, and the people called it manna.

What is manna?

What do you think manna is? Not sure? Well, neither were the Israelites. That’s where the name comes from: manna actually means, “What is it?” The first morning that God sent manna from heaven, the people woke up to find white “stuff” lying on the ground. It was food sent from God to feed everyone. All they needed to do was gather it.

Many years later, when Jesus came to earth, He said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry…” (John 6:35).

What Jesus meant was that we can only have eternal life by letting Him live in us and become a part of us, like the bread we eat.

When Jesus comes to live in us, He fills the emptiness inside. And when we are filled with His goodness, we lose our appetite for what the devil tries to offer us.

Verse for today

Jesus said, “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven." John 6:57-58.