Word@Work 090 - Mark 8:1-5
Published: Thu, 03/27/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
Read Mark 8:1-5 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance." His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied. (NIV)
This looks like a re-run of the feeding of the 5,000. But it is not, not really. It is a separate episode (see Mark 8:19-21), but so similar that the disciples should have been clued up ... alas they fell at the first hurdle. Jesus even sets them up to give the right answer - and they give the wrong one!
Knowing that Jesus wanted the crowd fed, and knowing that He had already fed 5,000 (see Mark 6:35-44), they should have turned to Him and said, "Master, we believe that you can feed them!" Instead, they complained that there were no bread shops for miles around. They had simply persisted in their worldly thinking, even though the King of heaven was with them. They were living next to Jesus, but His life was not inside them.
How many lessons, painfully learned, have we forgotten? What a lot of spiritual education has apparently gone to waste, as we make the same mistakes again and again. Today's passage might give us that healthy nudge to consider how the Lord has met with us (and in our circumstances) in the past. Instead of floundering at the next impossibility, it is a good idea to tell the Lord that you trust him to sort it (and that you are willing to cooperate!).
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank you for the many ways that you have displayed Your power in my life. Forgive me for forgetting, and for persisting in a lifestyle that assumes that You are not in control. Help me to trust you today, at work, and when I get back home. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
This looks like a re-run of the feeding of the 5,000. But it is not, not really. It is a separate episode (see Mark 8:19-21), but so similar that the disciples should have been clued up ... alas they fell at the first hurdle. Jesus even sets them up to give the right answer - and they give the wrong one!
Knowing that Jesus wanted the crowd fed, and knowing that He had already fed 5,000 (see Mark 6:35-44), they should have turned to Him and said, "Master, we believe that you can feed them!" Instead, they complained that there were no bread shops for miles around. They had simply persisted in their worldly thinking, even though the King of heaven was with them. They were living next to Jesus, but His life was not inside them.
How many lessons, painfully learned, have we forgotten? What a lot of spiritual education has apparently gone to waste, as we make the same mistakes again and again. Today's passage might give us that healthy nudge to consider how the Lord has met with us (and in our circumstances) in the past. Instead of floundering at the next impossibility, it is a good idea to tell the Lord that you trust him to sort it (and that you are willing to cooperate!).
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank you for the many ways that you have displayed Your power in my life. Forgive me for forgetting, and for persisting in a lifestyle that assumes that You are not in control. Help me to trust you today, at work, and when I get back home. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
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