by C. H.
Mackintosh
"We remember … the leeks
and the onions … There is nothing at all besides this manna" (Num.
11:6).
Do we always find our
heavenly Manna sufficient for us? What means the frequent inquiry raised by
professing Christians as to the right or wrong of such and such worldly
pursuits and pleasures? We prove, alas! that Christ is not enough for the
heart by the fact of our turning to other things. How often, for example, does
the Bible lie neglected for hours, while the light and worthless literature of
the world is greedily devoured. What mean the well-thumbed newspaper and the
almost dust-covered Bible? Is not this despising the manna and sighing after
the leeks and onions?
No doubt we are all in danger of
falling into the very sin of Israel as recorded in our chapter, but the young
among us are peculiarly so. Those of us who are older are not so likely to be
drawn away by the frivolous pursuits of the world—by its concerts, its flower
shows, its pleasure parties, its vain songs and light literature. But the young
will have a dash of the world. They long to taste it for themselves.
They do not find Christ an all-sufficient portion for the heart.
How sad to hear a Christian ask,
"How can I fill up the day? I cannot always be thinking of Jesus." We
should like to ask all who speak thus, How will you fill up eternity? Shall not
Christ be sufficient to fill up its countless ages?
It will perhaps be said, "We
shall be different then." In what respect? We have the divine nature; we
have the Holy Spirit; we have Christ for our portion; we belong to heaven; we
are brought to God. "But we have an evil nature in us," you say. Yes,
but are we to cater to that? must we try to help our wretched flesh—our corrupt
nature—to fill up the day? No, we are called to deny it, to mortify it, to
reckon it dead. This is how the saint is called to fill up his day.
Which do we really mean to
nourish and cherish—the new nature (Continued on page
26.)
(Continued from page 36.)
or the old? Egypt’s food cannot nourish the new nature.
May we have grace seriously to
think of these things. May we so walk in the Spirit that Christ may ever be a
satisfying portion for our hearts. Had Israel in the wilderness walked with
God, they never could have said, "Our soul is dried away:there is nothing
at all besides this manna before our eyes." And so with us. If we really
walk with God in this wilderness world, our souls shall be satisfied with the
portion which He gives, and that portion is a heavenly Christ. Can He ever fail
to satisfy? Does He not fill all heaven with His glory? Is He not the theme of
angels’ song and the object of their adoring homage and wondering worship? Is
He not the one grand subject of everlasting counsels and purposes?