Episode 661

TODAY’S READING

1 During those days, another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,

2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a long distance.”

4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.

6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so.

7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.

8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away,

Mark 8:1-9

That is the kind of God that we serve. I love a couple of keywords in the story. And I liked that we’re reading full stories this season because sometimes, or maybe this is the first time you hear this full story. Or maybe you’ve heard it a million times, but there’s always something that you can get from it. The first word that I loved is that the disciple said that this place was desolate. It was far, it was far away from society, or it was an isolated place. It was a place that did not have what they needed. It did not have food or resources to feed 4000 people. It was a desolate place. And I think that a lot of times, we can find ourselves in similar situations in the emotional and spiritual world that we live in. We are physical bodies here, but our emotions may allow us to travel to a place of desolation even though we have friends and families robbing us 24/7. Beyond that, I like that. They took what they had, and Jesus multiplied it. That is the key to this story. That was the miracle he took the little, and he multiplied it to feed 4000. I want us today to give God the little that we have and watch how he multiplies it, even if we are in a desolate season, a faraway place, or a place of isolation. 

God will use everything we have, and they will be more than enough. You’re going to have a basket full of leftovers. So whatever you’re battling this season, remember that this season is for Jesus. He is the reason for the season. And that guy, our Lord, he can do something like this; he can take seven loaves and a couple of small fish and 4000 people; how much more can he do for you if you gave him the little that you had? Think about that today.

Prayer:

Father God, we love you, Lord, we thank you for taking the little, and you multiply. We thank you that you take us from desolate places and you bring us to places of resources, abundance, prosperity, and overflowing blessings. We thank you because you continue to put us at the forefront of your life. You continue to fight on our behalf. So you continue to bless us. And in return, we do the same we put you at the center. We put you before we let you fight the battle for us. We give you our little dose that you can multiply because we know that with you, it’s possible and us trying to do life alone is not. So we surrender this all to you. It is in your son’s mighty name that we pray. Amen