What's in your brown bag?

It was great, because this weekend I got to sit through service twice, with different speakers each time. Saturday was Tim Sutherland (at the Yellow Box 5pm), and Sunday was Janet McMahon (DownTown 11am). The message was about how important it is to read the Bible every day, and that God intended for us to live on His word, not just food. This goes along with my post about life's instruction book.

Back in the Old Testament days, yes the days of Moses, the people relied on Manna for food while wandering in the wilderness. Manna (Hebrew for "what is it") was a food that God provided, but it had to be gathered daily, and you could only keep enough for the day because it would be rotten and full of maggots the next morning (yummy... think of bad chinese in your refrigerator.) So what does that matter for today? Well, today we need to gather our spiritual nourishment daily. This means we are supposed to dine on a course of the Bible, or God's word every day. Deuteronomy 8:3 says "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers 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."

Think about it. Every day we turn on the TV and are "fed" things that tell us how to lead our lives. Buy this shampoo, drive that car, eat here, shop there, watch this, look like her, live life like this guy. Don't watch TV? How about radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, comments people say? You cannot avoid it. Everywhere you go, the world is telling you how to live and what to do, wear, look like, eat and feel.

God has plans for us that are better than the world. How are you going to know what God has planned for you if you ignore what He has to say and only listen to the world? Every day the world throws bad ideas at us. God wants us to get His word FRESH everyday, so our brain, our souls, do not get full of maggots.

In Deuteronomy 11:18 God commands us "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." Solomon instructs us in Proverbs 6:21-23 "Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life." Psalm 119:11 writes "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Why not listen to the world, how can billions of people be wrong? John writes (2:15-17) "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."

On a personal note, the more that I read the Bible, the better I feel. I take lessons and apply them to my life and it works! God's way really is better! Don't just take my word for it, pack a little in your brown bag every day. Give it a try.