Matthew 14:15-18

Matthew 14:15-18

And after it became evening, the disciple approached Him while saying, “The place is a wilderness and the hour is already passing by.  Release the crowd in order that after departing into the villages they should buy food for themselves.”  And Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away, give them something to eat yourselves.”  And they said to Him, “We do not have anything here except five loaves and two fish.”  And He said, “Bring them here to me.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s look at the disciples’ perception of the world around them.  The hour is late.  Jesus has been teaching them for a long time.  The place is highly deserted.  There are a lot of people.  From their perspective, now is not the time to count on a miracle of God!  They counsel Jesus to dismiss the crowd.  They are probably afraid of them becoming unruly.  Or the disciples might be afraid of the crowd making unmanageable expectations upon them.  In any case, we see the disciples thinking logically with their mind.  However, they are thinking temporally.  They are only thinking about the here and now under the normal rules of physics.  They are forgetting that the power of God Himself is with them.

Have you ever forgotten about the power of God?  Have you ever got so caught up in the details that you missed God’s hand at work – and maybe even completely forgot to look at it?

Second Thought:

However, look at Jesus’ perspective.  Yes, He sees the crowd.  But more importantly, He sees a teaching opportunity.  He doesn’t scold them for thinking in a worldly manner.  After all, they are human beings!  How can they help themselves for thinking like this?  Jesus sees this as a teaching opportunity.  He begins to instruct His disciples in a higher way.  Jesus is always looking for the teaching lesson – especially where His disciples are concerned.

How good are you at seeing teaching opportunities?  How good are you at seizing teaching opportunities?

Third Thought:

Finally, look what Jesus teaches them.  Jesus turns to them and says, “Start with what you’ve got.”  Jesus doesn’t tell them to go out in the boat and catch more fish – although they are fisherman and in other places we know that Jesus has done exactly this in order to prove a point.  But in this story, Jesus simply says, “Start with what you’ve got.  Take an inventory.  What do you have to offer up to God for Him to work through.”  I think this is a really powerful testimony.  God doesn’t need fancy items and many of them.  God simply needs a few things and willing hearts.  Start with what you have and go from there.

What do you have to offer God?  Are you ever guilty of looking past the simple things that are in your life that God can use?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 14:19-21