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Theo Tigno•
5/2/2003 8:03 am
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Friday, May 2nd 2003 |
John 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Dawg's thought:
Throughout the Bible, we see the generosity of God and His willingness to provide. When I usually think about today's reading, I normally think about how God can take what little we have and multiply it so that we can do His will. Yet, in reading the reading today, God is the one who provides the gift in the first place. In other versions of this reading, one of the disciples provides the loaves and fishes. In today's reading, though, the one who provides the loaves and fishes is "a boy." God provided the boy with the loaves and fishes already because God knew how God would glorified through the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
So, what has God provided you? What gifts do you have that God is calling you to multiply? We all came into this world with all that we need to glorify the name of God. We should never deny these gifts. We should never take our gifts and make them smaller because God did not give us gifts to be mediocre. God gave us gifts to be fruitful!
Often times, I like to shy away from the fact that God has given me the great gifts of creativity. I often look at other musicians and I think to myself, "I am not as good as them... why do I even play?" That is exactly what Satan wants me to say. Satan would rather me hide my gifts in fear versus using my gifts to glorify God. I think about my artwork (and how I haven't done anything in a while) and I think to myself, "It's been so long since I've created anything... I should just stick to the things I'm comfortable with." That is complete garbage! God has given you gifts for a reason. All of God's creations give glory to God, and we are the only creatures than can choose not to give glory to God. Will you choose to hide in fear? The boy with the loaves and fishes could have kept his food to himself... but he didn't. This morning, I challenge you not to be mediocre with your gifts, but rather, to choose greatness in glorifying God with the gifts that you have. Take care and God Bless.
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