Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him.

                                                                                                                             Exodus 16:4, 8a 

Read: Exodus 16

The people had been set free from the bondage of the Egyptians. Yet, they were grumbling. Why? They viewed their situation as dire. Having no food or water, they began to turn on their leadership, which was headed by Moses. Amazingly, they longed to go back into captivity, knowing that at least there, they would have the basic necessities of life given to them. But today’s passage is a wonderful example of how God acts as a Provider. He gave them manna from heaven, meat in the form of quail, and even supplied them with water. Everything that they would ever need for daily survival, God was willing to give. But the key is that they would have to trust God for that provision.

There are two prevailing examples for living found in scripture. One is the “self-made” attitude of building up material wealth, trusting in it as a means of being secure. The other is the exact opposite. Working certainly (for we are not to be lazy) but trusting God for the provision that we need. The first attitude is placing trust in money and one’s own ability to provide while the second is a trust in God for those same provisions. Consider the following two scripture, the first describing the man who takes the former position and Jesus’ instructions for us to take the latter:

And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

                                                                                                                 Luke 12:16-21 

Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

                                                                                                            Matthew 6:31-33 

I believe that the issue is all about focus. What is our priority in this life? Is it to make as much money as we can or is it to grow deeper in our relationship with God? For the man whose land was productive, it meant that the focus was on money and wealth. This is played out over and over in our society. We often get giddy at the thought of being around someone who is wealthy or well known without the slightest consideration of whether this person is a godly man or woman. Athletes and entertainers are often the highest paid people in our society while those who do vitally important tasks for their communities are sometimes paid little and are often overlooked. There is nothing wrong with success, working hard, and being paid for that work, but when the focus and priority of our lives is on how much wealth that we can accumulate to the exclusion of even considering eternal things, we become like the rich man in the parable.

He was storing up “in barns” which is the modern equivalent of making sure that we have bank accounts and investments that are overflowing. The very thinking of the man in the parable was that once the wealth was accumulated, he could then live a life of ease. But the reality for him was that those carefree days would never come. After doing all he could to accumulate wealth, he would die, leaving all of his wealth behind. Jesus sums up the parable in the following statement:

So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

This is a two-fold statement. One is the accumulation of wealth but it is that second part that makes this a tragic scene. The man was materially wealthy but was “not rich toward God.” I believe that this man was void of salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Otherwise, he would have secured eternal life through his faith but because he chose to focus on material things to the exclusion of eternal ones, he forfeited everything he had in this life and suffered eternal loss as well (Luke 9:25).

Contrast that with Jesus’ instructions on how we should live our lives:

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 

Notice that the priority is flipped. God now becomes the focus and priority of our lives. Whatever money we do have we recognize as coming from Him. But it is the seeking of His kingdom and His righteousness that becomes the most important thing. And with that priority shift comes a promise…”all of the things we need in this life will be added as well.” When our focus is on the right things, on the Person of Jesus and God’s will for our lives, we gain eternal life and all of our material needs are provided as well. It truly is a “win-win!”

For those who focus on money and material wealth, there is loss, both materially and eternally. But for those who focus on God and Christ, nothing is lost and everything is gained. Having an abundant life on earth and eternal life with God in heaven…this is the choice that we have when setting our priorities. God will provide. We need only to place our full trust in Him!