At a recent pastors meeting we were encouraged to take a story in the Gospels and instead of just read the story as we usually do we were challenged to meditate upon the story over a period of one week. I decided to continue with the story of the feeding of the Five Thousand recorded in all four gospels.
Honestly, the more I read the story the more I realize what a great and wonderful God we serve. The text is literally filled with biblical truth and principles that can be applied to the Christian life and that frankly challenges me to want to serve God more and become more like Christ.
The amazing thing in the Feeding of the Five Thousand is how the miracle was done. Since Christ was God in human form He could have chosen to perform the miracle any way He wanted. Like the feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness He could have chosen the easy route (at least logistically) by letting it rain bread and fish from heaven. But instead He chose to involve the 12 disciples and a little boy without a name. Here is a perfect example of how the supernatural worked through the natural, the preferred method God uses.
According to the account Jesus told the disciples to have the large crowd of people separate into smaller groups of 50 and 100. Then the Bible tells us, “And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all” (Mark 6:41). In other words the disciples just kept distributing the food, and it literally multiplied before their very eyes as they gave it out. What an incredible experience for all involved.
I believe Jesus is trying to teach us a valuable lesson; namely that as we partner with Him in leading people to Christ, God will bless us. As we distribute what we already have (in the form of talents, resources and gifts) God will give us more.
Matthew 14:20 then goes on to offer this incredible detail (one that I personally have often overlooked) about the Feeding of the Five Thousand “So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.”
The point is Jesus gave them more than they needed and they were all filled. This once again reminds us that we serve a generous God, a God that is more than willing to meet the needs of His children and restore us to image of Christ.
So let me ask you:
Are you willing to pass on what God has given you? Or, are you trying to hold on to it all? As the disciples distributed the food, we are told that everyone was blessed. Everyone had their part to play. God gives us resources, gifts and talents and we need to use them for His glory as we serve one another.