No Bread

Reading: Numbers 28-29; Mark 8 17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. (Mark 8:17-19 NLT) Jesus and his guys got in a boat to cross Lake Galilee. As they sailed along, Jesus said, “Beware of the ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees.” They thought he was taking a jab at them for not remembering to bring any food with them in the boat. Jesus was thinking about the Pharisees who had traveled all the way from Jerusalem just to argue with him and try to discredit him. He was warning them not to get infected with Pharisee legalism, pettiness, and negativity. Jesus reminded them of the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men and their families with five biscuits and two small fish, and the feeding of 4,000 people with seven biscuits and a few fish, and said, “Why are you arguing about lunch when you know we’re trying to introduce the Kingdom of God here?” It’s not that Jesus doesn’t care if we have food for lunch. It was his idea to feed the hungry crowds in the first place. He cares. He cared then and he cares now. It’s that he doesn’t want me involved in silly squabbles over whose turn it is to prepare lunch and whose fault it is if we forgot the peanut butter! It’s that he doesn’t want me to be bogged down in petty, selfish matters when the Kingdom of God is at hand! Jesus wants me to think bigger thoughts about more important things! He wants me to remember how he’s provided in the past and trust him to provide now and in the future. He wants me to understand that if I’ll focus on being the person he’s called me to be and doing the work he’s given me to do, he’ll make sure there’s food on the table. Will I ever get it? I hope so! How about you? Prayer: Father, Please help me to care about what matters to you. I know you care about what matters to me. I know that passionate obedience is my part and gracious provision is your part. Help me keep that clear. Amen.