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| Credit: James Tissot [No restrictions or Public domain] |
“Give Them Some Food Yourselves” by Melanie Rigney
Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. (Psalm 72:11)
He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” (Mark 6:37)
Piety
Lord, help me to be open to Your desire to feed others through me.
Study
Everybody was tired—and hungry. They also were probably getting pretty cranky. Can you blame the disciples for asking Jesus to send members of the crowd on their way? But instead, the Hospitality Master tells his followers to feed the masses.
They don’t get it, of course. They never get it when Jesus is speaking of something beyond the tangible. But they trust in his direction and gather up the five loaves and two fish—and a miracle results. The loaves and fish are more than enough for five thousand-plus hungry people.
Sometimes, we don’t get it either. We come up with a whole lot of reasons, often seemingly legitimate, why we can’t feed others. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the knowledge. We don’t have the soft skills. We don’t have the money. We think tangible when the service invitation is of another level, one of comfort and solace. The opportunity passes. But somewhere in our souls, we know that we are spiritually poorer and more distant from the Lord for having said no.
Action
Ask the Lord to relieve you of your literalness in responding to His desires for you.
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