Mark 8:1-10 Food for thought'

Initially this sounds alot like the feeding of the five thousand, and our thinking is that its the same thing, so why pay attention to it.  

Well, there are some differences, besides 1,000 people .. but the feeding of the five thousand was more of a 'teachable moment' it was more of 'the crowd came, lets feed them.'  Actually it was the crowds here 'You feed them'.  

In this passage, we have people that came, and they had to be fed ... take a look at verse 3 "If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way.   For some of them have come a long distance."  

Also, it says that they were in the middle of nowhere, in the wilderness.   In the feeding of the five thousand, they were close to villages and farms (6:36).   So the difference here is desperation, and urgency to find food.

The disciples asked Jesus how they were going to find enough food in the wilderness to feed everyone.   "Jesus asks "How much bread do you have?"   "Seven loaves", they replied"  So Jesus thanked God for it, broke them into pieces and it was distributed.   A few small fish was found somewhere in the crowd, that was blessed and distributed.   In the end about 4,000 people were fed, and after they were fed, Jesus sent them home.

In each of these feeding accounts, there was alot of food left over ... in the feeding of the 5,000 - 12 baskets  of leftover bread and fish; in this account 7 large baskets of left-over food.   It's amazing what happens when Jesus gave a small portion of food up to God to be blessed, and the abundance of food that came afterwards.  

This speaks volumes about God taking the little we have, and doing something amazing with what we give him doesn't it?   I mean, in both instances, Jesus lifted up the food to be blessed by God, and God miraculously multiplied the blessings.   This passage is a letting go moment.   When we are desperate, and taking on all the worries, and stresses of life on our shoulders ... do we ask God to intervene?   What happened when Jesus blessed the loaves and fish?  It multiplied so much that there were left-overs!   When God intervenes, things change ... but how many times do we let Him?

Food to grow on :)