Our family prays before meals. We thank God for the food and those who prepared it, whether that was one of us or the staff at a restaurant. We’re grateful to God for the time we have to sit as a family to enjoy the meal.
Someone once taught me we don’t pray to bless the food. By the time it’s at my plate, someone’s already done that. A farmer has prayed and blessed the rains that produced a harvest. A worker has blessed God for the chance to put a meal together. When our family sits down, we thank God for what we have before us.
You know what we don’t do? We don’t pray after our meals. I had never thought of that before until someone offered this bit of wisdom. It’s easy to thank God when you’re hungry. What about when you’re full?
Not long after Israel departed Egypt, they got hungry. Snickers may give us too much credit. They say you’re not you when you’re hungry. But maybe exactly who we are comes out in our hunger. The people complained. This early in their journey, God didn’t send snakes or any other punishment. Instead, God sent bread from heaven. According to the text, the bread is a test.
The people were to go out every day to collect just their daily bread. God said, “In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.” When they first gathered, they did. I suppose when you’re hungry, you’ll do what’s asked of you. Their obedience, though, was not long-lived. Once fed, they began their trail of disobedience.
And there’s our challenge today. As fed and full people of God, how faithful will we be? How faithful do we even want to be?
Stay blessed…john
