Then the LORD said to Moses,
‘How long do you refuse to keep
My commandments and My instructions?’
Exodus 16:28
Now as we look at Exodus 16, we see that God is going to send the meat that the children of Israel grumbled for straight into the camp and He is going to rain down bread from heaven. The provisions that God will send will come with specific instructions that require perfect obedience in order for it to be consumed. When God institutes a way, it is the only way, and compromise and concession will not cut it.
The frustrating thing is that this group of people, these whom passed through the Red Sea, still do not get it. The Lord, once again, does exactly as He said He would, yet the people still choose to doubt Him. God commanded them to take only what they needed for the day and save none, for there would be more tomorrow. Yet the children of Israel gathered extra and tried to store it for later, but it turned foul and bred worms.
God then commanded them on the sixth day to gather twice as much, for on the seventh day there would be none. However, once again, the children of Israel doubt God and His word and they go out on the seventh day to gather manna.
How God withheld His wrath upon these people is beyond me. Then again, how God withholds His wrath upon myself is also beyond me. This is why He is God and we are not. Oh, how patient our Creator is with us. This is why He can be trusted and should never be doubted.
In John 14:9 Jesus is speaking with His disciples and He turns to them and says “Have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know Me?” How long must we walk with the awesome awareness of a Holy God before we get it?
Oh precious one, let us get it!
Let us lay aside all doubt.
Let us lay aside all human reasoning.
Let us lay side the confines of the temporal and let us pick up the vastness of our infinite God. Stop looking at life through the eyes of your head and begin seeing it with the eyes of your heart.
In 1 John 5:3 we read “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”
In 2 John 1:6 we read, “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”
How long can we refuse to keep the commandments and instructions of God and still claim that we love Him? God has clearly demonstrated His great love for us. Let us in return demonstrate our love to Him by walking in obedience to Him.
Obeying Him shows that we trust Him. We can’t say that we trust God when we disobey His Word, because our actions will prove us a liar. If you love Him, trust Him, and if you trust Him, obey Him.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that You are patient with me. Forgive me for the many times that I have tested that patience. Oh Father, You opened my eyes so that I would be able to turn from the darkness of the kingdom of Satan to You, my God, and the kingdom of my Christ (Acts 26:18). You opened my eyes that I might recieve forgiveness for my sins and the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit and now I pray that You would open the eyes of my heart that I might know the breadth, length, height, and depth of Your love for me (Ephesians 3:18). The more I understand of Your love the more compelled I am to obey Your every Word in the hope that somehow in someway I might show You how grateful I am to be so loved by You.
My Jesus, it is in Your name that I pray
Amen