Mark 6:41-42 – And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied.
THEME OF THE DAY. JESUS’ POWER AND OUR OBEDIENCE. In today’s scripture, we see the deity of Jesus doing a miraculous work of feeding thousands of people with about enough for maybe a family of four, if they are not starving. But don’t allow the miraculous physically cause us to miss an important lesson spiritually. Jesus displays His power and the people displayed action to His power; they ate. The food would have meant nothing if they didn’t do their part in the miracle.
As Jesus feeds the hungry crowd, the last statement in today’s scripture describes what is always the result of a work by God – it satisfies. Mark writes, “And they all ate and were satisfied.” When the Lord meets a human need, He does so completely and satisfyingly to include spiritual needs. Yet, often, we find the Lord placing upon those with need, a personal action on their part in harmony with the act He is doing or will do. What I am saying is God often works the miraculous based on our obedience. For instance, remember the invalid man who had been in this paralyzed condition for thirty-eight years? Enter this riveting scene – “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (John 5:1-9). Notice two things. The obvious is Jesus healing the man. The other thing is mind-boggling. Jesus commands the man to do what he could not do for thirty-eight years. Get this. Jesus tells the man to do something he could not do. Does that make sense? Initially, maybe not, but then again, maybe so. Maybe there is something there for you and me in both the feeding of the thousands and healing of the invalid.
Faith acts upon the Word of God, not feelings, seen circumstances, or human reasoning. God speaks. God commands. We hear. We obey, even if we think we cannot or it makes no sense whatsoever. How do we think the masses felt when they saw five fish and a couple loaves of bread? Disappointed and hungry, but they took a step of faith. They ate. And what about the invalid man? What is going through his mind when Jesus didn’t heal him immediately but told him to “Get up”? It made no sense, but he did what he could not do and as he exercised faith in Christ’s Word, he experienced the healing power of Jesus.
The principle applies to us. We must do what God commands and not wait for Him to work before we do. Too often we struggle in our walks with the Lord. We cry out for God to do things, draw us near to Him, and give us a sense of His presence, yet lack the obedience to commands He has given us to achieve these desires. He calls us to discipline in His Word, fervency in prayer, and faithfulness to His church. These are commands. Faith obeys commands and as faith is exercised so is the power of the Lord.
There is a wonderful, yet mysterious, harmony between God’s work and our obedience. Many times, He does His work in us and through us as we obey, not waiting for Him to do something before we obey. Think about it as we walk with Him today.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that Your Word not only gives me life but satisfies me in life.”
QUOTE: “God’s Word is our food to be taken in daily by discipline and delight.”