What is It?

The children of Israel had recently left Egypt and the bondage which they had faced for an extensive period of time.  At God’s gracious hand they had successfully crossed the Red Sea leaving a trail of dead Egyptian soldiers in the vast expanse of water.  Going farther into the wilderness they complained that they had no water to drink when the Lord led them to Marah.  However, now they complained that the water was bitter so God instructed Moses to have trees thrown into the water making it drinkable.  Now they had moved from Marah and Elim (an Oasis) to a point of complaining that they had no food to eat.  God instructs Moses to tell the people of the offering of food at night via quail and in the morning via manna.  When they saw the manna in the morning they looked at one another and asked one question, “What is it?”  (Ex. 16:15)

Here the children of Israel are blessed by God with not one offering of food for their hunger but two.  However, the scripture does not say they worshipped God, is does not say that they thanked God, or even offered a sacrifice to God for this blessing.  Instead the scripture simply says they asked what is it.  How could the children of Israel, God’s anointed group of people miss recognizing God’s blessing?  How could they miss the opportunity to thank God for this bountiful blessing?  Could they have already become accustomed to God giving to them in their time of need and have become complacent?  Did they miss the blessing of God by overlooking and being calloused to what God had to offer unto them?

“Andrew Carnegie, the multimillionaire, left $1 million for one of his relatives, who in return cursed Carnegie thoroughly because he had left $365 million to public charities and had cut him off with just one measly million.” (Homemade, Dec. 1984)  How often do we complain to God because we compare what He has done for others with what He has done for us?  How often to do think God has forgotten us because we tend to overlook the bountiful blessings of each day?  As a devotional I read recently stated,        

Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so is the future. They live for the present. Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of those who labored in the past. They recognize those who labor during the present and provide for those who will be laboring in the future. Homemade December 1984

What constitutes a blessing?  One dictionary stated that a blessing is help which one believes has come from God.  A blessing is anything which God offers unto us in a form which He sees best fitted for us!  How often have we received a blessing from God and yet we failed to offer up thanks for that which God has given unto us?  How often have we failed to even recognize what God has done for us as a blessing from above?  James stated that “every good and perfect gift comes from above.”  (James 1:17)  Why not stop today and ponder the blessings which God has given unto you, blessings you might have overlooked but God has given on a continual basis?  Why not stop and offer thanks unto God for every good and perfect gift He has poured out on you! I challenge you to try this approach and see what God does when His children come to Him with a grateful heart.

Pastor Ric