For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Ex. 16
I’m a little slow sometimes, but I just noticed something fascinating about the progression of the Israelite’s Exodus experience and God’s provision for them in it thus far. Maybe I have noticed it on some surface level before, but it really hit me clearly this morning. First, God brought them to the Red Sea. There, He provided a way for them to pass through the waters from death to life. Then He brought them to Marah, where He gave them living water. In today’s reading, He provided them the bread of life. That all so clearly points directly to Jesus! He is our Exodus. Jesus claimed Himself as each one of these provisions when He said that He is the way, the source of living water, and the bread of life.
Luke 19
Yesterday we read about the rich young ruler who came to Jesus seeking eternal life but turned away when Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and follow Him. I think this passage leads many to believe that Christians shouldn’t be rich. There was a time when I, too, focused on Jesus’ order for the man to sell all that he had. I have since learned that the possessions weren’t the point. Jesus’ comment concerned what held the man’s heart.
Today, one chapter later, we read about another rich man. I don’t think I realized until this morning that Zaccheus’ story is in direct contrast to that of the rich young ruler. While the rich young ruler desired to gain eternal life for himself, Zaccheus desired to see Jesus. There was nothing academic about Zaccheus’ desire, and when Jesus called to him, “he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.” (Lk. 19:8). Then, without Jesus’ saying anything, Zaccheus committed to giving away half of his possessions to the poor and restoring times four anyone he had defrauded. Indeed, Zaccheus passed his camel right through the eye of that needle and entered the kingdom of heaven right then and there.
Zaccheaus didn’t sell all of his possessions, as Jesus told the rich young ruler to do. And I’m willing to bet that, even after giving all that he said he would give, Zaccheus remained wealthy. The point is, though, that his riches no longer held his heart. Having and gaining money no longer dictated his behavior nor defined who he was. Instead, it became a tool with which he willingly and gratefully served Jesus. Unlike the rich young ruler, who couldn’t let go of what he thought he had, Zaccheus wisely chose true riches.
Job 34
I have a little happy dance moment whenever I see some sense in one of the Bible’s many flowery, poetic statements. I had such a moment with one of Elihu’s statements this morning. He said of God, “If He should determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” (Job 34:14). I thought this simply meant that God could destroy all life at a moment’s notice, which is indeed true. But Elihu’s statement says so much more than that.
Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Thus, Elihu’s words acknowledge that man lives only because God breathed into him. Without God’s breath of life, man is nothing but dust. Therefore, it is God who sustains all life, merely because He chooses to do so. That’s a very impressive truth, when you really stop to consider it!