Blueberries, Daily Bread and Hidden Manna.

My wife and I have an old farm house. It came with about 50 mature Blueberry bushes. They are about six feet tall. When Blueberries begin to ripen, they do not turn all at once. Day by day, you must go over the bushes and pick the ripe berries. If they are just this side of ripe, they do not have the best, sweet Blueberry taste you look for.

As the time draws near and the berries begin to whiten, then blue, you will find an interesting thing takes place. Birds begin to show up. They look the bushes over, but do little other than that…at first. But when the berries begin to ripen, the birds inspect a little more closely. Finally they will peck at the berries, making indentations in them. Once they are fully ripe, the birds will land, eat away, or carry a berry off to eat, before coming right back.

So, as the berries come fully ripe, and we go out daily to pick, we find there are birds waiting to beat us to it. The berries will ripen, and will go through one of three ends; we will eat them, the birds will eat them, or they will fall from the bush. This has become a lesson to me. For the Lord’s voice within has been called small and still. I can look for it, or if I don’t take it to heart when delivered, the birds may carry it away.

Jesus spoke a parable:

[Mat 13:31 KJV]

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof”.

Now, regarding Blueberries, there are about two ways I know to get them. I can go to the grocery store and buy them. Or I can maintain my own patch, to pick my own, and invite others to come and pick all they want. I compare this to the Word of God, as to how one may seek after it. I can pay someone or some thing to provide it to me, or I can trust the Lord, who has given us His Spirit, and has Himself said, that He will teach you. If I get the word through some outside vendor, I must hope and pray that the source is reliable. I must also be content with a more generic, less individualized message. Having a Blueberry patch in my own yard, I know that the berries have never been sprayed or treated with any man made chemicals. They are not processed or mishandled. The bushes are fed twice a year, organically, and mulched. The only rinsing they receive is the rain.

This is comparable to something the book of Acts reveals:

[Act 17:10-11 KJV]

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming [thither] went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The word of the Lord had met with a lot of resistance in Thessalonica by them described as “of a baser sort”. But at Berea, the word was met by them to whom the scripture ascribe a noble nature.

Thessalonica is an interesting word. It means “Victory of falsity”. Berea is also an interesting word. It means “Well-watered garden”. The Bereans listened to the “well” within the garden, and searched the scriptures. The Thessalonians were stirred up to no good, by base individuals who did not love the truth. The message is pretty clear.

In a place, regarding prayer, Jesus gave a pattern to them who asked, how to pray. His response was called “the Lord’s prayer”, although he was speaking to those people according to where they were at that time, and because they had asked. This now oft repeated prayer, constantly asks for things. The things it asks are, and have long been available.

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist”. (Colossians 1)

Everything asked for in the Lord’s prayer, is there to live in by faith. You will not find it in the earth. You will find it in Christ, in yourself. For hundreds of years, the things of the holy place were an enactment of the things of the holiest, which were there all along. Even so, the assemblies often act out weekly, things perceived to be afar of, which are, and have been at hand, walked in by faith.

Regarding “bread”, the prayer asked that they be given daily, their daily bread. This is a a lesson  from the show bread of the tabernacle. It was set on daily. It was man made bread, made according to divine recipe. Therefore, it is as good and reliable as the priests who made it. Did they make every loaf, day by day, year by year, exactly right? Was there ever any variance or cutting corners? Your guess is as good as mine. But there is a higher bread, and Jesus said that to him that overcomes, will He give the right to eat of the hidden manna. This is in reference to the manna hidden in the holiest place. It never runs out, it has a measure containing all fullness. It is in you. It’s source never is touched by human hands. Jesus Christ in you, the true bread of heaven.

Listen for it. Learn from Him. Eat it up when it comes ripe. Don’t let the birds steal it from your mind.
It is there always, always ripening. Always available. It belongs to you. Hidden manna is superior to daily bread. It, unlike daily bread, has no possibility to stink and breed worms. (see Exodus 16)