In response to the current virus pandemic, the word “ban” is popping up much more frequently in all our conversations. As we saw last week, “ban” is a verb that means to “stop,” “to cease,” or “to forbid.” Although there are dozens of things that we should consider “banning” from our lives, I am suggesting that we concentrate, at least for now, on just three. Last week, our focus was on banning “WORRY” from our lives, and for this blog, I want to focus our attention on “Hoarding.”   

Let’s Ban “Hoarding”

The daily news is filled with pictures of barren shelves in supermarkets that have been emptied by shoppers stocking up on certain essential supplies that we have always taken for granted, supplies such as toilet paper. Interestingly, I saw an advertisement recently where jewelers were being super-creative by producing miniature rolls of toilet paper as a matching set of earrings. In fact, I just did a quick online search and found those earrings again, only this time I discovered the following words, “currently unavailable.” Apparently, people are seeing these earrings as “2020 corona virus keepsakes,” and they are already sold out.

The Bible provides a very instructive history lesson that teaches us about the danger of “hoarding.” When the Israelites left Egypt and crossed through the sea on dry land, they found themselves in the desert without food or water. And that’s when God proved Himself faithful to them once again. He had not only provided for their escape from the Egyptian army, but now in the wilderness, He was going to provide both food and water for His people. But, with His provision of food, came some restrictions that would, in the end, provide a great spiritual lesson for them, a lesson that extends to each of us today.

God had a purpose for His provision for food, and He expressed it this way,

“At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning, you shall be filled with bread, and you will know that I am the LORD your God” (Exodus 16:12).

Because God would faithfully provide for their physical needs, they would know He (Yahweh) was their God. But how was He going to provide for their needs?

“It came about at evening that quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. And when the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like substance, as fine as the frost on the ground” (Ex. 16:13-14).

The Israelites weren’t questioning God’s provision for quail, but it was the “manna” that stumped them. Here is how they responded to one another,

“’What is this stuff?’ And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat” (Ex. 16:15).

Over a thousand years later, Jesus would tell the world,

“I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died…I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever….” (Jn. 6:48-51).

Of course, the Israelites needed physical bread at that time, but Jesus wanted His followers to know that the real bread that we need, spiritual bread, is none other than Himself who has come “down out of heaven” to redeem the world.

Let’s go back to the wilderness. There was a command, as well as a responsibility, placed on the Israelites. Here’s what it was:

“Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece (about 2 quarts) according to the number of persons in each tent…let no one save any of it until morning. But they did not listen to Moses, and it bred worms and rotted….” (Ex. 16:18-21).

So much for hoarding! Gather just what you need and don’t gather more. It’s a matter of trust. Could the Israelites trust God that the manna would show up again the following morning? The “ban” on hoarding was used as a lesson in trusting. And so it is for you and me as well. Most of us can recite “The Lord’s Prayer” by heart, and we remember the part where Jesus said,

“Give us this day, our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11).

Jesus was telling His disciples (and each of us) to ask God for just enough bread for the day and to trust Him that it would be provided. We are not to worry about not receiving it, but to trust God to provide it. The Apostle Paul also encourages us to trust God, reminding each of us that,

“My God will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

The temptation to hoard is overcome not only by learning to trust God for our provisions, but also by learning to give to others. Multitudes came to the Jordan River to see and to hear John the Baptist call the nation to repentance and then to be baptized. Knowing that “repentance” means “to change,” some of the people asked, “What shall we do?” And John responded,

“Let the man who has two tunics share with the one who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (Lk. 3:10-11). 

Like John, Jesus also preached repentance and focused on being generous and giving to others in need.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,

“Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Lk. 6:38).

Jesus is not simply saying that if we give, we will receive, but if we give, we will receive back more than what we have given! And let’s allow God to determine what we will receive in return. If you take a neighbor a few rolls of toilet paper because they have run out, you may not receive cases of toilet paper in return, but you will receive unspecified blessings from the One who specializes in blessing us in ways beyond our comprehension. King Solomon put is both simply and succinctly when he said,

“He who is generous will be blessed” (Prov. 22:9)

And so, let’s all place a “ban” on hoarding. We can do it if we will simply do 2 things:

1) TRUST GOD for all our needs, knowing that He is faithful to supply all of them; and

2) BE GENEROUS and give to others in need.

May we all remember that the Lord, our Heavenly Father and Creator of the Universe, has got all of us in His loving hands. Please join me in this simple prayer: “Lord, help me to trust you for all my needs, and to be generous by giving to others in need. Amen.”