Do you ever underestimate your effectiveness in God’s kingdom and wonder how God can use the little you have to bless others? Then this incident is sure to encourage you if you are willing to obey and be used by Him.
When the disciples, or as they are called here apostles, came back from their preaching and healing ministry they had been sent on earlier in Mark 6:7-12, naturally enough they wanted to tell Jesus all about it. No doubt Jesus wanted to hear all about it. He saw the disciples need for rest and refreshment after their mission and intended meeting that need by taking them away to a quiet place, verses 31- 32.
Jesus knows when we need times of refreshment too and wants us to draw apart with Him.
The problem was many, who saw Jesus and the disciples leave, raced ahead to be waiting for them when they arrived, so that when they landed a large crowd had gathered. Jesus saw immediately that the need of the crowd, who were ‘like sheep without a shepherd,’ transcended the need of his disciples, verse 34. Jesus was adaptable and ready to change plans when a more important need arose.
How ready are we to change plans when the needs of others conflict with what we would like to do?
Jesus recognized that the greatest need of the people was for teaching, and so this is what he undertook to do, verse 34. Jesus met this need before dealing with their physical needs.
Do we meet the spiritual needs as well as the physical needs of people? Which has first priority in our thinking?
The solution the disciples arrived at was to send the people away so they could buy food, verse 36. The solution of Jesus was to use the disciples to meet the crowd’s need, verse 37.
Often Jesus uses human agents to help meet the needs of others. Are you available for His use or do you look at a situation as the disciples did, and think it is too big and there is nothing you can do?
Jesus sent them to find out what was available for his use and then directed the disciples to get the people seated, verse 39. He then took the meager provisions, gave thanks and proceeded to give it to his disciples to distribute to the people, verse 41. The disciples obeyed.
Are you as willing to obey Jesus?
Jesus fed all the people. We don’t know how many people exactly were there. But there were 5000 men plus women and children, as the Matthew account of this incident tells us, Matthew 14:21. So it was a large crowd. The fact that all four of the gospel accounts features this incident shows what an impression it made on the disciples.
When we are obedient to Jesus, He is able to take the little we have and use it to bless others and nothing is wasted. No experience in our lives is wasted either if we turn it over to Jesus to use for His glory. Is there something in your life that you have been holding onto, that you need to turn over to Jesus for His use?
All Bible References are from The New International Version
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