ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 8 DAY 1

Mark 8:1–13 

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

 I love to hear my dad’s stories. One of those stories was about the time when my dad was working construction and came up against a problem he couldn’t make sense of, so he called my Uncle Bob. My Uncle Bob was someone who my dad trusted and had great wisdom when it came to commercial excavation. My dad told my uncle the problem and asked for help, to which my uncle replied, “You’ll figure it out!” That was it! And you know what, my dad looked at the situation, looked at what he had at his disposal, and he did, in fact, figure it out!

One of the things I love to focus on in this historical occurrence in the life of Jesus is not the miracle, which by itself is great, but that Jesus asked the question, “How many loaves do you have?” Basically, Jesus was asking, “Whatcha got?” God wants to use what we have, not what we wish we had! He has provided everything we need to be effective for His kingdom.

 So, the question for you today is this: “Whatcha got” that you can put to use joyfully for the glory of God’s Kingdom?