Deuteronomy 8:2-4, 7-10 (NIV) 2 Remember
how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty
years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether
or not you would keep his commands. 3 He
humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which
neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live
on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes
did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with
brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;
8 a land with wheat and barley, vines
and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and
you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper
out of the hills. 10 When you
have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord
your God for the good land he has given you.
After forty years of wilderness, they made it. The people of
Israel are ready to enter the promised land. In our day and time, there is
another journey in the wilderness that many people take, looking for their
promised land. The journey begins with the belief that ambition and work shall
feed us. Some will continue that journey in this belief all the way to the
grave, and a few may believe that at some point they have arrived to their
promised land, however it was visualized in their mind. But for many people in
this journey a new truth begins to dawn. We do not live by bread alone. Job and
work do not satisfy the way they once did and have not brought the happiness
and fulfillment it was once thought they would. A kind of slow, depressing
disillusionment sets in,bringing a sense of emptiness in life and
meaninglessness in work.
This disillusionment has been labeled the “thank God it’s
Friday” syndrome, when a person lives to be released from the drudgery of their
job and life. The tragedy of our day is that many have not heard in their
hearts the complete truth that we do not live by bread alone, but by everything
that comes from the mouth of God. To live by everything that come from the
mouth of God is to do our work in trust and in partnership with Him. It is to
take our guidance, our strength, our goals from Him. To live by everything that
comes from the mouth of God is to unite our spiritual life with our life on the
job and at home, and that is one of the most exciting things that can happen to
you and me.
How can we go about living by everything that proceeds from
the mouth of God and unite our spiritual life, our daily working life and our
home life so that God is as real and as much a part of those areas of our life
as He is in our daily devotion or weekly worship? First, remember all the ways
which the Lord your God has led you. Remember the moment when God has been real
and His will has been clear to you. Look back on your life at the way God has
been at work even when you were not aware of it, yet slowly and surely His plan
for your life was being carried out. Secondly, walk in His way. Listen to God
in the midst of responsibilities and respond to the nudges and promptings of
the Holy Spirit in life. And, remember to bless and thank the Lord our God. Each
day, regardless of which day of the week it is, gives us the opportunity to
experience God’s presence and to do God’s will for our life.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 5, 1976
Copyright, Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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