When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

Devotion based on Exodus 16:15-18

I know a one-year-old who helps her daddy in the yard. When he mows the grass, she gets out her plastic toy mower and does the same. When he weeds the garden, she picks up the pulled weeds and puts them in and out of the bucket. When he harvests the berries, she harvests and eats them too. She takes great delight in helping. Her daddy is doing the work.

When the Israelites needed food while wandering in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, God provided a type of bread from heaven. In the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. The Israelites had not seen it before, and the words they spoke to ask what it was sounded like—manna—which is how it got its name.

God gave them work to do, gathering the manna. But to demonstrate that he was actually the one doing the work, God made sure that no matter how much they gathered, they had just enough.

When we pray, “Give us our daily bread,” we acknowledge that God blesses us with everything we need for our bodily welfare on the way to the Promised Land. Sometimes, we are tempted to think that we earn those things by our work, but then we realize that those things are really blessings from God. Our work is something that God provides to keep us busy while he blesses us.

Prayer: