The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 145:15-16
As we make our way into the month of October, it is a time for harvest. Fields that were once green are either yellow or brown. Some fields and some parts of fields have already been harvested.
But this is not to say that the harvest is just beginning. If you are a gardener or garden for a living, you have been harvesting for months already! Harvesting all the varieties of foods that God gives us and produces for us. All the varieties of foods that God gives us that sustain our bodies.
And what a blessing, right?! What a blessing that God gives us such a variety of food to eat! To say it another way, He does not just give us potatoes to eat. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like potatoes…and the variety of ways they can be made. But if potatoes were the only thing to eat, I think our taste buds would be very much underused. Praise God that He not only feeds us but feeds us with such variety.
This makes me think of the variety of ways that God “feeds” us with His gifts. As Lutherans we call such ways the “means of grace.” The means of grace being the ways that He conveys to us the forgiveness of our sins, the salvation He has won for us, and the eternal life we have through faith in Jesus.
For when it comes to the means of grace, there is variety. God gives us the nutrients for spiritual life through His written word, the Bible. God gives us the nutrients for spiritual life through the spoken words of absolution. And God gives us the nutrients for spiritual life through the simple means of bread and wine which give us Jesus’ body and blood. All varieties of ways in which our God “feeds” us for this life and the next. So, whether it is “harvest time” or not we praise God who continues to give us our food in due season…and with variety!
Praying for a safe harvest!
Pastor Tuma