Just Enough

 

When I was ten years old, I couldn’t wait for Santa to come on Christmas eve.  We had a fireplace, but no mantle, so it was impossible to hang stockings on the mantle (that didn’t exist).  So, my brothers and I would get one of our socks and pin our stockings onto the back of the couch.  Santa was so clever.  He would know which sock belonged to which boy.  But my brother Phillip was cleverer than Santa.  He pinned his sock onto the couch, cut out the toe, and put a big mixing bowl underneath the sock.  I warned Phillip that Santa didn’t take kindly to greed, but he was undeterred.  Christmas morning, Phillip had no more stuff in his bowl than the other three of us boys had in our stockings.  But at least he didn’t get sticks or coal because of his trickery.  It reminds me of the Israelites in the wilderness gathering manna.  Each person was to collect as much as they needed: no more and no less.  And the dear Lord knew exactly how much each person needed: more manna for adults, but less manna for children.  Exodus 16:18, “… he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.”  Hey, aren’t you glad that the Lord knows your needs?  And He meets your needs with what you need when you need it!  Nothing more, but nothing less.  The key is to learn to be content with what the dear Lord gives us!  A good reminder for all of us … including my brother!