He Is – Our Provider

On Sunday morning Linda delivered a communion message at our retreat. This is the text of what she said.

April 13, 2014

We need food to maintain our strength and good health. God has used food to illustrate our dependence on him many times.  Think of the abundance of food freely given to Adam and Eve; until they allowed themselves to be tempted by power.  This single lapse is the reason we must work for our food all of these years later.

God generously rained manna from heaven to provide for His beloved children while they wandered in the desert.  But, he only gave what was needed each day.

The Bible is full of examples where the Lord told His people to share His provision with one another.  To share the food and the story of how He provides, so others will know just how He cares for His people.

In Exodus 16:32 - Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

The Old Testament is also full of examples of the offerings He instructed His people to bring Him for various reasons.

Judges 6:20 says: The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 

Food and drink given to others appears in several places in the Bible; either as an act of service or an offering to show respect.  Here are two huge turning points in the Book of Samuel where food plays an integral part in human history.

1 Samuel 17:17 -Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah^[a] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp…” 

This act led David along his path to becoming a great King who reigned over Israel for 40 years.  Imagine if he had behaved like many of the young men we know today.  He would have stopped to hang with some friends, who might have eaten the loaves of bread and given some of the grain to a cute girl along the way.  Imagine if David had been too late to face Goliath.  How would his reign as king suffered at the loss of his brothers?

Or if Abigail had not chosen to take an offering to David after her foolish husband Nabal insulted him.  What if she’d chosen to let Nabal suffer the consequences? 

Instead, 1 Samuel 25:18 says, Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

 

Our sharing God’s provision in memory of His sacrifice is not a suggestion; it is a direct order from the Lord.  It is how we show our respect and gratitude for His love and protection, which has carried us this far. Choosing to honor Him through this blessed meal is accepting and giving a love offering. He Is Our Provider.  He Is the reason we are here. He Is everything we need.

Imagine the room where the meal we now know as The Last Supper took place.  A gathering of friends; many had shared the Passover Seder with Jesus the previous year.  Some of them may have been thinking of other places they could have gone for the evening.  Only one knowing the significance this night’s gathering would have.  It is difficult to the pain and sorrow that each man would face before sunrise.

Our traditions can become simple habits, and we may miss a chance to see or hear some small, but vital thing the Lord has been waiting to give us at just this moment. 

Jesus called us to remember Him through our communion.  We need to be mindful of the sacrifice He made for us.  We also need to celebrate His provision.  He became our sustenance when he died on the cross.  The pain of His suffering and humiliating death must not be overlooked.  But we can also celebrate; because we know that He did not simply survive a crucifixion – He overcame the power of death for us. He has gone ahead to make a special place for us.

1 Corinthians 10: 16-17 says, Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?  And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?  Because that is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. 

We share bread and drink in remembrance of the meal He shared with his dearest disciples.

1 Corinthians 11:26 -  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

May we each share in many more meals of thanksgiving, as a part of the fellowship of believers.  May our faith walk draw others to the Lord, so they too will have a place at the table.

He Is our provider.  Let us honor Him by accepting His love offering.

Written by

Lynda Kinnard