Having Everything

When Israel walked through the wilderness for forty years, they had no grocery stores, no bottled water, no hospitals, no schools or universities, no clothing stores. But they had the Lord and that meant they had Everything.

Manna rained down for their daily bread, a taste of the true Bread of Life which came down from Heaven to give life to the world. They drank fresh water, from the Smitten Rock, and… “that Rock was Christ” who gives the Living Water of His Spirit to all who trust in Him. The Lord kept them from the pestilence that walked in darkness. Their feet did not swell, nor their clothes grow old all those years.

Thanksgiving. How deserving the Lord is of our daily, weekly, and yearly gratitude! To have Jesus is to have Everything. And although we should always be thankful for material blessings, the spiritual ones are even greater – forgiveness, eternal life, access in prayer, eternal words of Truth and Wisdom, a forever Family, the sealing of His Spirit, the glories of the future to come.

“Because the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall never be in want.” And although He is kind and good to the unthankful and the evil, there is an unfathomable well-spring of Heavenly blessings that only belong to those in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Christ in our hearts, Lord of our homes, Head of our churches - is leading us safely Home. May His return find us “abounding in our faith with thanksgiving.”

(Devotional by Lisa Cataford)