Every Need Met

Verse of the day: Leviticus 25:21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.

The longer I live, the older I get, the more I realize that I do not need as much as I thought I did. I have found that much of what I thought I needed were really things I wanted. Sadly, there were times when God provided more than I needed, but I was too busy desiring things that I wanted, showing little appreciation for what God had already given me. The Israelites were no different. While in the wilderness, God provided for them daily bread from heaven, and quail; yet, what they desired was the food they left behind in Egypt, the place of their enslavement (Exodus 16). Sadly, this is what happens with us. God follows through on His promise to provide for us what we need, and we, instead, chase after the things we want, and act as if God is keeping something from us. The same God who provided for the Israelites in the wilderness is the same God who still provides for us today. Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Here in Leviticus, God instructs the Israelites to allow the land to rest, in the Year of Jubilee, the seventh year of forty nine years (seven sabbaths of years times seven years). In that year they were not to work the land, and in doing so, trusting God to provide for them in that year, and the following. God’s promise to them, in obedience, and trust of His provision, was that He would provide three years worth of produce to last them beyond the eighth year, when they would once again sow the land, and reap produce on the ninth. What an awesome picture of God’s provision for us today. So often, we miss the blessing of enjoying God’s provision because we are too busy chasing our own selfish wants. We receive from God, but not as we expected, or wanted, and we completely miss the blessing. Instead, we gather, we buy, we covet, and we enslave ourselves to the debt that comes with it, being very poor stewards of what God has given us. The expectation then becomes that God is supposed to bail us out of the mess we have made, simply because we sought more than we really needed, and more than God was already providing. The mistake we make is that we seek riches, material gain, and other worldly things, more than we seek the things of God, and God Himself. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-34, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” God’s desire is that we seek Him first, and trust Him to provide whatever it is that we need. If we have Him, in reality, what else do we need? Hebrews 13:5-6 put it best, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ 6 So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” This might seem like an easy thing when we read it, but stop and think about this; imagine that we are farmers, and we rely on our land to provide for us and our families’ needs. What if God were to say to us, “Do not work your land next year, I will provide for you and your family for the next couple of years”? How would we react to this? It is easy to say that we would trust Him, but how often do we panic about a bill that needs to be paid next month? How often do we panic because we are living paycheck to paycheck, and do not know how we are going to pay for food, fuel, or anything else? The bottom line is that we must learn the difference between a need and a want, and be better stewards of what God has already given us. When we realize that we do not really need as much as we think we do, and when we learn to trust God, see and appreciate all that He has already provided for us (the greatest being our eternal salvation in Christ) we will be more thankful, less stressed, and have more peace and joy than we could ever imagine. I will close with Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.”

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).