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1 A song to our strong God! a shout to the God of Jacob! 10 I'm God, your God, the very God who rescued you from doom in Egypt, Then fed you all you could eat, filled your hungry stomachs. 11 "But my people didn't listen, Israel paid no attention; 12 So I let go of the reins and told them, 'Run! Do it your own way!' 13 "Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now? Israel, will you follow my map? 14 I'll make short work of your enemies, give your foes the back of my hand. 15 I'll send the God-haters cringing like dogs, never to be heard from again. 16 You'll feast on my fresh-baked bread spread with butter and rock-pure honey." (Psalm 81:1, 10-16 The Message Bible)
Gratitude for food is my mantra. You can tell. If you feed me I will be grateful and thankful. I am thankful for my mother who fed me my first million meals, then my bride, who took over and has fed me about a million meals more. I will never forget either of them for their love and their careful feeding of me to keep me alive. I am forever thankful to Mrs. Tomie Lopez, who on that Friday my Dad was late, shared her last can of Spaghetti-Os with us so that we would not be hungry. I will also be forever grateful to The Rev. Bud Rousseo, who shared his last two eggs and two slices of whole wheat bread and crunchy peanut butter. That was a feast that I will always cherish. I can only imagine what my mother or wife would think of me if I were to say to them, "I've never liked your food, thanks for nothing!" And then I ran away!
That in a nutshell is the history of Israel and their relationship with God. As the prophet Jeremiah said yesterday, we forget too easily the good that God does for us and we wander off as ungrateful people. In all honesty, we miss out on so much that we might never catch up on. I just read a story about a man in Costa Rica who found a crocodile that had been shot in the head. The man took the huge croc home and nursed it back to health. It took several weeks until the man felt it was time to release it back to the wild. He carried it to the river where he had found it and released it. The man felt sad that his temporary friend was now on its own. But the next morning he was surprised to see that the croc had returned to the man's porch and spent the night there. He tried again, and again it returned and the man decided it might be best to keep this croc where it wanted to be. Photos showed that the man could take naps on the belly of the huge reptile, which never harmed the man; such was its gratitude towards the man who healed him and fed him. I know many of the human species who might learn a lesson from this story; and a nation whose story we just read that would also have been blessed had they showed this kind of love and devotion to God for all God had done.
The imagery of God's rich blessings as used in this version should make us desire to truly seek and find God; "You'll feast on my fresh-baked bread with butter and rock-pure honey." The offer of God's fresh-baked bread beats our human fresh-baked hate, which is what we show when we are ungrateful and walk away from God. The good news is that God's front door is always open, and all of God's kitchen windows are also open. The aroma of fresh-baked bread is the aroma of love. Don't only breathe it! Enjoy it by eating it!
PRAYER: Loving God, We are thankful You are forgiving, especially the times we have not thanked You for the wonderful blessings You have shared with us. Let us not walk away without thanking You and being grateful to You. Grant us a new opportunity to serve You; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord Jesus. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Show fresh-baked love to those who are hungry for it.
Receive my blessings of love and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
