Why was it so hard for the Hebrews not to hoard food? For the same reasons we have difficulty today. Deep within our sinful human nature there is lust for material things, fear that we won’t have enough of what we want, and pride in terms of what we can do for ourselves. Regarding lust, this has nothing to do with sex. It is simply the fact that, not unlike a child, we see so many things we want to possess, things we believe will make us happier and life easier. Again, it is rather embarrassing to observe that more non-Christians than Christians are writing and talking about "less is more." Regarding fear, we are fearful God won’t give us everything we want. We are correct in that fear, and the reason God doesn’t give us everything we want is the same reason we don’t give an infant everything he or she wants, but only what the child actually needs for safety and growth. As for pride, when God doesn’t provide our needs the way we want, in our pride we do whatever it takes to get what we want. We may even give God the credit, however it is impossible to have the attitude, "I can take care of myself" and at the same time believe, "I must depend on God to meet my needs.

Philip Ryken writes concerning Exodus 16:

God has sent us bread from Heaven. This raises a practical question: Will we trust - really trust - that in Jesus, God will provide everything we truly need?....

Most of the Israelites were willing to trust God for their daily bread. "However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them" (Ex. 16:20). Moses was right to be angry. Instead of only taking what they needed, some of the Israelites tried to make God’s provision last an extra day. Not only was this unnecessary, but it showed a lack of faith in God’s promise. These people failed God’s test because they were worried about tomorrow...

This was partly a lesson about contentment. By giving everyone the same rations, God was teaching His people to be satisfied with their daily provision. How much is enough? We live in a culture of accumulation, where enough is never enough - we always want a little bit more. But all we really need is our daily bread, which God has promised to provide. As God sustains us from one day to the next, we are called to live in daily dependence upon His providence. Why does God tell us to trust Him for our daily bread? Maxie Dunnam writes, "He does it for our sakes, that we may know the peace and strength that come from continual dependence upon Him, the joyful life that is ours when we trust Him and see the truth of our trusting. The happiest people I know are not people who don’t have any needs, but people who experience the meeting of their needs by God" (Ryken, 432, quoting Maxie Dunnam, The Communicator’s Commentary: Exodus, Word, 1987, 195).

Perhaps the reason so few Christians are interested in living a simple lifestyle, and truly believe more is less, is the focus of most people’s lives is happiness. Everyone wants to be happy. But most of us define happiness in terms of what we own, and so we are willing to do whatever it takes to get what we want and be happy. Our quest for happiness is often more important to us than our spiritual needs being met in Christ, at which point we make Christianity and following Christ man-centered, we follow Christ for material blessings rather than spiritual; when we should be following Christ primarily to know Him rather than anything else (cf. Ex. 18:11; John 17:3). Actually, this is why God saves us through Christ, that we may know Him. His forgiving us of our sins is important, but it is the means to His real purpose: that we may know Him.