A QUARANTINE BLESSING Part 2

In our last talk, I shared that the wilderness holds so many lessons and TRUTHS.

The greatest lesson and blessing is the quarantine. Hence our title a Quarantine Blessing.

A quarantine is different than isolation. In a quarantine you are to connect, in isolation you are to cut off.

In a quarantine you get time to connect with YOU, your true self, your inner you, your mind, your body, and your spirit. You get time to explore your thoughts, your feelings, and your reasoning. The why’s and the why nots. You also get time to connect to your loved ones, and to God. A quarantine is a gift of time for reflection, something that we don’t always get to experience.

We should all have regular quarantine periods in our life. Times when we can just slow down and reflect. A quiet spiritual retreat is a type of quarantine. We all need those.

I looked up the definition of the word quarantine and I found something very surprising to me.

The origin of the word quarantine refers to a time when Jesus was also in a wilderness. Jesus was in his wilderness fasting, praying, and getting closer to God for 40 days. The word quarantine means 40 days.

The children of Israel were in their wilderness for years, 40 years to be exact.

Our quarantine from the pandemic has lasted years, several 40-day periods. And we don’t really know when it will end. Maybe, we will still see its effects for 40 years.

What do these 3 occurrences all have in common? I’m glad you asked.

One central theme that I found in all 3 occurrences was tied to what was consumed during that time. In other words, what was being eaten during the time of the quarantine.

During our pandemic/wilderness time the global food supply was affected due to supply chain challenges. We had less choices of food made available to us.

The children of Israel also had supply chain issues in their wilderness, and Jesus opted to fast in his wilderness experience.

We have not been called to fast all throughout our time in the wilderness, nor have we been called to do a Jesus fast, for 40 days with no food, there have been no recorded successful attempts thus far.

It’s important to note that during our quarantine one of the few things that we could still do was get groceries.

We experienced reduced food choices, the children of Israel had only one food choice, and Jesus chose to have no food.

The one food choice present in all these experiences was Bread. Bread has always been a universal food. Today there is no country in the world in whose culinary tradition there is not some form of bread.

Bread is a universal indicator of culture, history, anthropology, wealth, and status.

Of all the things the devil could have tempted Jesus with, he chose bread.

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:3

Of all the things the children of Israel needed, God gave them bread from heaven.

They ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. Psalm. 78:25

They received their daily bread, manna, from heaven.

Bread was even a focal point the last time Jesus would have a meal with his followers at the “last supper”. Jesus took bread, blessed, and broke it.. Mark 14

Jesus also taught his disciples to ask for their daily bread.

Someone might be wondering, so they all had bread, what’s the big deal?

The big deal for us is that we are supposed to be eating bread too, during our quarantine.

Remember earlier when I shared that during our quarantine, we should use this time to get closer to God. Jesus used his time to do just that, it was also the plan for the children of Israel to do likewise.

The bread that we are to consume was combined with us getting closer to God, getting to know him better.

Our bread that we are to be consuming is the Bread of Life, Jesus.

That is why he was able to fast for forty days, because he is the bread of life.

Jesus is where the ordinary and glory come together, where havoc and the holy intersect.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” John 6:51

Jesus is our modern-day mana. He comes to us in our wilderness, those times when chaos is all around us, and provides us with the true substance we need.

We need the bread of life to spiritually survive the pandemic and all other challenges that come our way.

We were told that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Worldly goods are not enough, our spiritual fulfillment is a primary need.

Jesus is both The Bread and The Word from God.

Because of the bread of life, we will no longer hunger. Because of the bread of life, we have a chance to live an abundant life. 

Feel free to have communion with him anytime you want, not ritualistically with some wine and bread, but rather relationally, by walking and talking to him.

He is the only one who can satisfy our deepest needs and longings. He wants to fill our empty hearts.

          This is a Thompson Truth