The Task of a Lifetime

The great British preacher Alan Redpath said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”

That is called sanctification. Salvation is instantaneous. But sanctification, which is becoming more like Christ, takes a lot of time. In fact, it takes a lifetime.

Just one month after God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and delivered them from their enemies, they basically said to Moses, “Oh, great. You just brought us out here to die! We remember how awesome it was back in Egypt. We had pots filled with meat. And there was so much bread!”

Actually, that wasn’t true at all. They suffered in Egypt. They were in pain. It was hard for them. But the Devil is cunning, and sometimes he will bring back certain memories from our past. But they’re never the miserable memories, of course, when we faced the repercussions of our sins.

In the same way, the Israelites had memories that weren’t even based on reality. And the first step to going back is looking back.

God told Moses, “I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God’” (Exodus 16:12 NLT).

The Israelites had never read the book of Exodus, so all this was happening in real time. God was saying, “I’ll give you meat,” and it rained quail. Then came the bread, a sweet, flaky substance called manna.

God has promised to supply all our needs “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NKJV). But He has not promised to supply all of our wants. God always will provide what we need, when we need it—sometimes before, but never after.