Turtles Eat Bread
• 5-minute encounter this week
• Reminded me of Jim
• he always fed the wild animals several times a day
• When we were out somewhere, Jim would slam on his brakes anytime he saw a turtle, even with cars behind him, and he brought turtles home. Couldn’t make him understand that turtles never travel far from their birth place, and if they get dislocated, they spend the rest of their lives looking for home. He brought them home often.
So for fun, I decided to feed the turtle in memory of Jim.
• Opened the sliding glass door to the deck slowly
• Quietly stood over the turtle from the deck
• Expertly frisbeed two pieces of bread that landed just in front of his mouth
• Waited
• He ate and ate
Turtle couldn’t see me standing above him on the deck, and didn’t know that I was there and intentionally sending him nourishment.
• Wonder what he thought.
• A turtle’s brain not as big as the Hebrews’ brains in the desert when God fed them in the wilderness, but still I wonder what the turtle thought.
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Just like the Hebrews could not see God feeding them from heaven, but they saw the food:
Exodus 16:31: And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
• I did not give the turtle wafers made with honey
• but I did give him Nature’s Own Honey Wheat
As the turtle ate and I watched from behind the sliding glass door, God downloaded Scripture after Scripture to me and I tried to think of each Scripture in terms of the turtle and in terms of our lives.
For instance:
Matthew 6:11: Give us this day our daily bread.
• Just like the turtle, we have no idea where the provision is coming from in the human realm.
• We just know it is there and we are happy we have provision.
• As Christians, we don’t have to worry about where it is coming from, we know it comes from God.
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In his book entitled God’s Psychiatry, Charles Allen tells this story:
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans.
• They were placed in camps in various allied countries where they were well-fed.
• Despite plenty of food and good care, they slept poorly. They were nervous and exhibited fear.
• Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution.
• Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed.
• Bread was to be held—not eaten.
• The piece of bread produced wonderful results.
• The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day.
• It was a security blanket
• That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep.
(SOURCE: Quinton Morrow in "I am the Bread of Life" on www.sermoncentral.com)
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I didn’t know if the turtle would eat the bread or if it was even hungry.
I thought of other food I could have thrown to the turtle, but other Scriptures came to mind:
Matthew 7 and Luke 11
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father
• Luke says: give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
• Matthew says, “Give good gifts to them that ask Him.”
I didn’t have any fish for the turtle, but I wanted to give him a good gift.
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God gives good things to them who ask Him.
John 6:35: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
In Matthew 4, Satan tempted Jesus:
Matthew 4:1-4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
After the temptation was over, Jesus’ earthly ministry began.
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John 6: 9-13. Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Sea of Tiberias or Lake Tiberias) and the multitudes followed him. AS the Sabbath grew closer, Jesus asked Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
Jesus knew what He was going to do, but Philip didn’t.
Philip looked at the situation of having only about $7 and thought that was not going to feed all those people.
So he said:
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
3 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Little is much when God is in it!
That same Jesus multiplies our $7 and makes it more than enough.
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The Bible is full of examples. For instance:
1 Kings 17:
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
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God Closed One Door, and then the Scripture goes on to Open Another Door:
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
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When David and his men were hungry (1 Samuel 21:6), God didn’t get mad when they ate the showbread bread:
So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread,
Proverbs 6:30 says: Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
When you are hungry all you want to do is eat.
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The Prodigal son who realized his father had enough bread in abundance, is a revelation of the Father’s love. He wants everyone at the table, eating His Bread.
Jacob’s son Joseph saved the world from hunger during the seven years of famine because he was able to provide bread to everyone (including his father and 11 brothers).
In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples were hungry on the Sabbath: Matthew 12
1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
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Jesus is more than just Lord of the Sabbath, John 6 tells us:
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
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1 Corinthians 11:24-25 tells us when Jesus was in the upper room at the Last Supper:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it (meaning the bread), and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
Afterward, Jesus went to the Cross, and the old song says, “When he was on the cross, I was on His mind.”
• How true that it.
• He never forgets about us.
• He has our best interest at heart.
• He watches over us and makes intercession in heaven for us.
The Bible says in Matthew 6:8 that He knows what we have need of, before we even ask.
It also says in 2 Corinthians 9:10: (NIV)
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
It is up to us where we sow those seeds: Stony Ground, Thorns, or Good Ground.
Don’t let Satan plant tares while we are not paying attention.
He warns us in John 6:27:
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
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I hope the turtle comes back tomorrow because there is more bread where that came from.
The turtle has no clue that my sending food frisbeed from above, is hands full on purpose like Boaz arranged for Ruth in the gleaning fields.
He has no clue where the bread suddenly came from out of nowhere.
But it was intentional and by design, and I would do it again just to see his reaction.
Jim did it every day. He fed the animals including turtles because he loved them and wanted to make sure they ate abundantly and had more than enough.
They came back every day.
We even had a few turkeys who actually came up on the deck some mornings and pecked on the sliding glass door because they wanted their food.
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How much more our heavenly Father wants us to come back every day so He can provide for all our needs,
give us the Bread of Life, Living Water, Our Daily Bread and Remind us of Lamentations 3:22-23:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness”
