Now, I know in my head as much as anyone that I, especially being in ministry, should spend daily time with God developing and nurturing a love relationship. I’m aware that I don’t have anything to give others if I’m not first filling up on His presence by taking time to listen to Him and let Him fill me with His divine inspiration and love. But do my daily choices show I believe that? Or do they show that sometimes I think I’m plenty capable or too busy doing God’s work to stop and sit at His feet? Or that I think I’m doing fine by myself and don’t really need His help? Or that I just don’t believe that spending time with God is that vital in my life and ministry?

This week, God reminded me why I’ve been so spiritually empty, dried up, tired, and uninspired lately, rushing around to serve Him but not willing to sit with Him (thank you for the example, Martha).

My Morning Bread

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Look, I'm going to rain down food from heaven for you. The people can go out each day and pick up as much food as they need for that day”... 21 The people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the food they had not picked up melted and disappeared... 35 So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived in the land of Canaan, where there were crops to eat (Exodus 16:4, 21, 35 NLT).

God’s message came through to me loud and clear. Thousands of years before He sent His Son Jesus to earth, He was already giving a message to His people through this miraculous provision, declaring the vital need of spiritual nourishment through our daily time with the Bread of life:

• Jesus is my food sent from heaven
• I must eat of His presence daily to be sustained
• I can pick up as much as I need for that day, but it will not be enough for tomorrow
• Morning is the best time to gather this food, before I start my day
• The message He has for me today will disappear if I do not gather it up
• I will be nourished by His presence this way until I reach my heavenly Promised Land where His presence will surround me in continual, unrationed abundance.

The Baker's Breakfast

I have since noted that Jesus, the One who provides (and is) my daily bread, truly set the example for us during His lifetime. Jesus gathered His daily nourishment from God before ministry and significant events such as:

• Choosing His twelve disciples, healing the sick, preaching, and casting out demons (Luke 6:12-19).
• His transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36)
• His baptism (Luke 3:21-38)
• His crucifixion (Matthew 26:36)

If Jesus needed strength and filling for the work God placed on His back, how much more must I need it? The fact is, when I neglect this important daily discipline, it may not matter so much that day. I can get by and do pretty well for awhile. But eventually it matters—a lot. The well begins to empty, the heart begins to ache, the energy and passion for God’s appointed work melts away, and my life becomes a vulnerable target for sin, pride, and hard-heartedness. Because of this, I am forced to His feet once again, remembering that Jesus is my bread for the day, my sustaining nourishment, and He promises that if I fill up on Him, I will never be hungry (John 6:35). What a reassuring promise!