I Ate Yesterday

 I Ate Yesterday!

Years ago when my daughter was just little, like 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years old or so, she was too cute!            She was a busy little one, sometimes too busy or preoccupied to take time out of her very busy life to even eat.

I would prepare our meals and call her for her to come and eat and her response was almost always something like this, "I ate yesterday."  

I don't know how many times I had to explain to her that she had to eat every day.  That was such a foreign thought to her.  But then again, she was just a baby.  She had no knowledge of nutrition, or the value of eating or being fed on a daily basis, sometimes two or three times a day with a few snacks thrown in for good measure.  Food upon rising and meals all day long with snacks thrown in and even the proverbial midnight snack.  She had not yet learned this dynamic in her little life.

When you are young, that seems to be a mystery.  A good balanced meal doesn't sound near as good as even a snack!  But snacks, which I love, are not fulfilling.  We all need to learn to eat healthier.

She did eventually learn this valuable lesson.

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I am even telling you this.  Well, here's why.  I recently heard a sermon that pricked my memory of this.  You see, the speaker, Miss Jennifer, spoke about how so many of us just come to church on Sundays and get fed our weekly meal and think, "Well, I've eaten this week.  I am good to go!"

We get up from the table, wipe the crumbs onto the floor and walk out the door!

We think we've had sufficient spiritual nutrition for the week.  That thirty or forty-five minute sermon should hold us over for a week.  Hopefully something doesn't prevent us from getting back the following Sunday or we would become famished, anemic.

How many of us are like that?  We think we are perfectly fine in doing that.

Like I said, when my daughter was a "baby" she thought like that.  But she grew up.  She now knows that "I ate yesterday" is not sufficient.  She knows she needs daily sustenance.

New Christians, or baby Christians, as they are called, don't understand the concept of that either. 
When they are brand new babes in Christ they can't seem to get enough spiritual food.  They devour it.  Much like a newborn baby on a bottle.  They can't get enough.  But as they grow a little older, and they realize that having to read and study the Word of God, that spending time in prayer with Him, getting to learn His voice, takes time.  Much like preparing a good nutritious meal.  That it seems easier to have a snack or two during the week and then come to church on Sunday and eat what someone else has prepared.

Maybe they will listen to a sermon on T.V. or turn on some praise and worship music while they are driving in their car, a snack, much like having a candy bar in the middle of the afternoon.  But it doesn't take the place of breakfast, lunch and dinner!

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they complained about the food situation.  A lot!  So what did God do?  He fed them.

Daily!

Manna!

The interesting thing about that was that yesterday's Manna was not edible the next day.  Many tried to hold on to what they got the day before, even though they were told not to, but it was bad.  It had maggots in it!  It was inedible!

God had something fresh and new for them every single day.

They just had to work for it.  They had to put in the effort.  They had to gather it up and use it fresh that day.  Their daily bread, so to speak!

That is what He wants for you, for me, for all of us, that we would feast daily on His daily bread!  That we would hunger and thirst after righteousness and be fed.

Jesus even told us to pray for it!  "Give us this day our DAILY bread."  He didn't say to pray for yesterdays bread to be sufficient.  He didn't say to pray for bread tomorrow.  He said DAILY bread!

You know when you hear nutritionists talk about illnesses, so many of them will say that a lot of our maladies would be cleared up if we ate healthier and got better nutrition and vitamins.  If we ate better snacks!

If we applied that principle to our spiritual lives, how much healthier of a church do you think we woud have?

Our churches have grown anemic, lethargic, we perish.

The word of God tells us, "My people perish for lack of knowledge!"

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV) says, "Your words are food, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts!"

I read a meme not too long ago that said, "Who knew so much of my time as an adult would be spent trying to figure out what I was going to fix for dinner!"

A newlywed I know recently posted how she was already tired of having to decide what to fix for dinner every night.

Sorry!  That's the real world.

But isn't it a lovely thing when you realize that God has already planned out the menu and prepared the meals.  He has invited us to His banqueting table because He loves us!

So my question is, when was that last time you ate?  When was the last time you sat down with Jesus and dined?

Don't you know He calls you to "Come and Dine?"  Just like He called the disciples.  

We used to sing a hymn called "Come and Dine."  The first verse said,

Jesus has a table spread, where the saints of God are fed

He invites His chosen people come and dine.

With His manna he doth feed and supplies our every need

Oh tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time

Come and dine the Master calleth come and dine

You may feast at Jesus table all the time.

He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine, 

To the hungry calleth now come and dine!

When was your last good meal?  Have you eaten today?

Psalm 34 tells us to taste and see the Lord is good!

Matthew tells us, "Blessed is he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, they shall be filled."

Have you had a good taste today?

Have you been filled?

Are you getting by on yesterdays manna?  Are you trying to make a meal out of leftovers?

Come to the banqueting table!  He has something in store for you.

But be sure to bring a fork, knife and spoon because I can almost guarantee there will be dessert!