Sustained by the Word of the LORD

This morning I opened an email from an old friend who wished a happy Thanksgiving. It had pictures of turkeys, cartoons and other paraphernalia connected with the uniquely American holiday. Here is one.

It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. So our family is set to gather in south Texas for the celebration, along with millions of families across the nation.

It is also customary for American Christians to gather for a worship service of thanksgiving, often on the evening before Thanksgiving Day. The O.T. lesson appointed for a general thanksgiving service is Deuteronomy 8:1-10. The lesson is part of the instructions Moses gave to the Israelites who had just spent 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai. Now they were set to enter and occupy the land the LORD God promised centuries before to Abraham and his descendants.

For 40 years the LORD had tested their faith and trust. He wanted to know what was in their hearts. In this desert they had no bread, but were fed with the mysterious manna six out of seven days of every week. As He said, the LORD did this so they may clearly understand that "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut.8:3).

This is a critical lesson for our country and our day, especially when you consider that "bread" is but a symbol for all the things we need to live and prosper in the land the LORD gives to us. It makes me wonder how many people will even bother to give thanks for all the bounty of this land. How many are ready to acknowledge that we live "by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD"? For that matter, what does the phrase mean?

Here's a quick answer. God's revelation tells us that all of creation came into being, not by chance, but by God's Word. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." How? Again and again we read, "And God said" (Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26). In other words, the universe was created out of God's creative mind by His Word. He speaks and it comes to be. So Moses teaches us all to recall that we and everything that exists, continues by the wondrous creative power of God's speaking, His Word.

The even deeper mystery is what we find in the Gospel of John as we discover that the Word is a Person and that Person is the second member of the Trinity, even Jesus Christ. John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made"(John 1:1-3).

The coming of Jesus into human flesh is intimately tied to our faith that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. In Him we have not only human existence, but a new life, a new birth and a hope that we and all creation will one day be completely set free when our Creator and Redeemer returns (Romans 8:18-25). On that day we and all creation will be set free from our bondage to corruption. Until then we wait expectantly, in hope and with patience.