Friday, 4Dec09 Deutoronomy 8: 3 NET
So he humbled you by making you hungry . . .
I received an e-mail from Brother Tai just now, who asked me in jest why I had postponed a bible study to just to meet him and another pastor for tea. He asked, tongue-in-cheek, "Are you worried that the siew-mai will be sold out?" And he proceeded to remind me gently that man shall not live by bread alone. . .
Yes, indeed the Scripture says in Deut. 8:3 that man shall not live by bread (food) alone but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of God. Well, that includes siew mai, har gau and char siew pow, I guess!
More seriously, Deut. 8: 3 teaches us that God did two things to teach his people in the OT about being careful not to live just by bread alone. Firstly he humbled them by making them hungry in their wandering in the wilderness.
Then, secondly, he fed them food which they were not familiar with, "manna", which simply means "what is it". In this way, Israel, the people of God were to learn to live by every word from the mouth of God.
So, it appears that if we're sometimes too poor to have dim-sum for breakfast, but instead can only afford roti kosong and teh-o, let us give thanks to God our Father, who teaches us to live by his every word.
Thanks, Brother Tai, for reminding us of this verse, though you were half-jokingly referring to my alleged anxiety over the siew mai!
Let us learn from this teaching of Scripture to live by God's word everyday.
