DAY 9: Contentment

The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out

Exodus 16

Some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul.


Have you ever been to Costco, Sam's, or another warehouse store that sells food by the case? Want a candy bar? Buy a box of 36! Need mayonnaise? Choose the twin-pack of gallon jars, the five-gallon tub, the twenty-gallon bucket, or the huge box of individual packets! If some is good, then more must be better. Common sense suggests that stocking up today will prepare you for tomorrow.

The Israelites learned the hard way that this isn't how God thinks. God provided manna for them each morning, instructing them to gather only what they needed. However, those who tried to stash some away for the next day discovered that the extra they gathered was full of worms and rotten by morning. A little manna is enough, but a lot of manna doesn't keep. It can't be hoarded for the future. Hoarding doesn't bring peace of mind. It only brings rot and waste.

When we recognize that all that we have comes from God, we can't hoard God's gifts or use them only for ourselves. God warns us that if we acquire and keep more than we need, it leads to rot--a spiritual rot that disconnects us from others and makes us unresponsive to their needs. God's gifts are not meant for collecting and hoarding; they are for sharing.


As I think about my stuff, how much is enough? (There was a study done a couple years ago that showed the average person used only 25% of what he or she owned. How do you compare?)


Prayer:
Loving God, help me to know when enough is enough, that I may freely share what I have with others. Amen


Action step:
Go through your possessions, identify what you do not really need or haven't used in a long time, and donate it to a thrift shop that supports a local charity.

contributed by Pastor Julie Kanarr