When the manna runs out

Christine Colliar April 04, 2025 3 2

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Joshua 5: 9-12 (NRSVA)

9 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.’ And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

10 While the Israelites were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11 On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

That’s it — the manna that has sustained them for so long, is no longer there. The Israelites have been wandering through the wilderness for decades, relying on what seemed like endless provision sent from God every day — manna. Now they face something new, a call to reconnect with the land beneath their feet. Suddenly, their daily bread will come not from heaven, but from the earth.

Sometimes, we wish the manna would just keep falling. Life would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? But there’s something beautiful, something deeper, in the everyday wonder of food. It isn’t just provision to fill our stomachs, it’s a gift that roots us in God’s creation. We’re meant to know the earth, to work with it, to tend to it. Our God, the Master Gardener, doesn’t want us to just live on the earth, but to live with it, in relationship with it, and in awe of the life God has planted there.

Prayer:

God of Creation,

Thank you for the gift of the earth,

for the food that sustains us 

and roots us in your wonder.

You are the Master Gardener,

teaching us to live with the earth, not just on it.

Thank you for the beauty of the everyday,

for the hands that plant, the soil that nourishes,

and for the life that rises from the ground – 

all a reflection of your care.

May we see your provision in every meal,

grateful for the earth that feeds us,

and the hope you plant in our hearts.

Praise to you, Lord, 

for the way you nourish us – 

body, soul, and spirit,

and for the new life you call us into,

with every step, every breath,

and every moment shared with your creation.

Amen

What can I do? Pray for Hope Kitchen in Oban (hopekitchen.org.uk), and its Green Shoots Community Garden.