Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 147, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1918 — Honey and Waffles [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Honey and Waffles

By REV. HOWARD W. POPE

Moody Bible Institute. ’ Chicago

TEXT—And the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.—Ex. 13:31. After their wonderful deliverance at the Red sea, one would suppose

that the people would never murmu r again, but hardly were they through singing, their song of deliverance before they began to complain of their privations, and long for the flesh pots of Egypt What was God’s answer? Honey and waffles for breakfast and quail broll ed, fried or fricassed for dinner. The

manna was round and white like wafles and had the taste of honey (Ex 16:13, 31). This story illumines like a searchlight the duty of daily Bible reading; for while the manna answered their objections, and assured them of God’s protection and care, it was also to be a test of their obedience. I. It must be gathered freshly each day. It would not keep until morning, much less could one gather a week’s supply on a single day. Neither will half a dozen chapters read on Sunday suffice for our spiritual needs all the week. 11. Each person must gather the manna for himself. No foraging squad could gather for the whole tribe any more than the pastors of a city can gather the spiritual food needed by their congregations. There is a blessing in the gathering which the Individual cannot afford to miss. 111. The manna was suited to the needs of all. The strong and the weak, the aged and the young, found It alike suited to their tastes and needs. And this manna diet was furnished by God during all the forty years of their wandering In the wilderness. No wonder they called It “bread from heaven” and "angel’s food” —for so it was. IV. One peculiarity of their supernatural food was this, that when they came to measure what they had gathered, the most eager and industrious had nothing over, and the feeble had no lack. This was certainly miraculous. But no more so than the way In which God illumines the Word and applies it to our dally needs. A minister once told me that he returned from vacation with a heavy heart. He was nearly sixty, and not strong physically. He seemed to have no message for his people, and he felt that he ought to resign. One morning at devotions he read, “The Lord shall Increase you more and more.” He caught a glimpse of the boundless resources of grace and glory which God had in store for him. He cried out: “Oh! wife, I haven’t got to go, after all.” When she asked what the verse meant, he said: “Don’t you see? It means that an old minister with a new experience is better for a church than a new minister with an old experience.” It was easy then to take up the work, and the last I knew he was serving God successfully In the same church. , For devotional uses the Psalms are'' perhaps the best, because they cover so wide a range of experience. In the morning read Ps. 19, and at evening Ps. 8. If you are going on a journey, Ps. 121 Is appropriate. The Gospels also are excellent for devotional reading, because there we come in contact with the words and works of Jesus. We see how he lived In the home and by the wayside, in the carpenter’s shop, and by the open grave. We see him in public life and and in private ministry, always the same, never hurried, never worried, always thinking ofr others and never of himself. We see him playing with the children, watching the hens In the dooryard, and the birds on the trees, the growing grain and fading flowers. In everything he saw God’s love. If it be asked how much one should read at a time for devotional purposes, I answer: Read until your heart burns. You may read a chapter or a book or a single verse, but read, if you can, until you are consciously In touch with God, and then with the Father’s morning kiss upon your lips, you are ready to meet the outside world. Some people feel that they cannot spare time for the morning watch, but I question whether any child of God can afford to do without It Our souls need to be fed daily as well as our bodies, and the Bible is the soul’s proper food. It is a good plan when one has read a chapter to ask oneself: 1. What Is the subject of this chapttt? 2. Is there any example In it for me to follow? 3. Any error for me to avoid? 4. Any duty for me to perform? 5. Any promise for me to claim? 6. Any prayer for me to offer? And remember that one verse of Scripture committed to memory, and really believed or obeyed, is worth. mo¥e than a whole book read hastily and without thought