Those Were the Days

     "Those were the days."  Perhaps you have found yourself saying those words at one time or another.  I was talking to someone recently as we were looking at some pictures and that phrase came up.  You look at the scenes from a few years back and realize that things are different now from what they used to be.  We then thought, "yep, those were the days."  When I got to thinking about it, the phrase seems to keep cropping up and thing are not usually the way they were, but different.  You may find that you have differen5t people in your life than you did before.  Friendships are still there, but you are making new friends but you still long to have the things you had a number of years ago and so you reflect on them and say, "Those were the days."  There seemed to be somewhat the same sentiment in the minds of the Israelites as they headed out into the wilderness.  It didn't take long for the idea to come up.  Numbers 11:5-6 says, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."   
      You can almost hear the Israelites saying, "Those were the days."  They could remember the cucumbers, leeks and onions and even the fish and now all we have is this stuff we call "manna" which  means, "What is this stuff?"  "Those were the days."  The Israelites failed to keep their eyes ahead on the Lord.  Here they had a visible cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and they still couldn't seem to get the picture that God was right there with them.  Moses had been in the presence on Mt. Sinai and still they desired the golden calf instead of waiting on God.  While it is true that the memory of things past seems to be so strong, the promises of God are nonetheless filled with His goodness.  God doesn't leave you life in a stagnant mess, but it is forever changing.  New relationships and experiences are present every day of your existence.  Five years from now, you will probably look back and say, "Those were the days."    Five years after that, you will again look back to the previous five years and say the same thing.  It is all because God is working in your life.  We should be able to learn the lesson from the wilderness experience of the Israelites.  Mirace after miracle took place and still they had a tendency to drift away from God and so do we unless we keep our attention upon the Word of God.  Yes, The Israelites had God's presence in the cloud and the pillar but we have His Very Word in our hand.  Praise God that He is still leading us in the affairs of our lives.