Thursday, February 23

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017

"... They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.  The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand." (Mark 6:43,44)

Jesus's feeding of the five thousand (more like 10,000+) occurs in each of the four Gospels.  Clearly, the Gospel writers viewed this miracle as one of the preeminent signs of His divinity.

Prior to the miracle, we see Jesus's heart of compassion for the crowds who had followed Him into the countryside.  Without a food source, these folks would become hungry.  The disciples rationally calculated that the food supply didn't seem physically there, and they wondered what Jesus had in mind.  Intriguingly, Jesus turns the question back to His disciples, involving them in the predicament:  "You give them something to eat."

Clearly, their five loaves and two fish would not have satified the crowds.  Here, we find a tremendous example of the power of spiritual multiplication.  The physical world works in additive terms, but God's power enables us to see glimpses of this amazing multiplication.  Jesus divides the loaves and fish to supply for all the gathered crowd's needs, but then the disciples find leftovers that fill each of their baskets.  (Biblical research suggests that the disciples may have carried these baskets with them on their journeys.)

Have you ever invested time, money, or energy into serving God's Kingdom?  In the physical world, we might expect that these investments would really be "costs" to us.  That is, the time we invested would take away from "free" time; the money would reduce "savings"; and our energy would have waned.  With God's economy, however, we may find that God's power provides an increase.  The Word doesn't promise that we will receive a one-to-one correspondence, but rather that, as we draw into God's presence, the "cup" of our lives will "overflow" and that we will find in Him the "strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 23, 73)  In short, God's presence and His grace are sufficient, restorative, and life-giving for His children.

During our time in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, we had the pleasure of meeting Pastor Michael Sprague at Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana.  He wrote a short book describing what God taught him from the post-Katrina experience called Betting the Farm on God.  He detailed how, in every case, when faced with a challenging situation, he chose to trust God ("betting the farm"), and God's provision never failed.  May we also have the faith to trust our Father's great provision.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your example of faithfulness and for showing us the principle of spiritual multiplication.  Help us to trust in You and to avoid the short-sighted thinking that dominates this world.  Give us Your grace and presence each day so that our cup may overflow.  In Your Name, amen.