Luke 9: 16-17. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
We Americans are used to cheap food and a lot of it. We almost always decide to have the combo meal or the full entrée. We seem to be perpetually stuck in a mindset of more even as we tote home our to-go box with the leftovers that might, might, make it to the next day if we don’t raid the ‘fridge. We seem to have a hard-wired fear of lack even as we loosen our belt or go home and put on our sweatpants. We are never satisfied. Then this story comes along.
How in the world did everyone (and there were a lot of them, more than even the number of choices on an Applebee’s menu) eat? Not only eat, but be satisfied? And that’s where the hinge is, that’s where we need to learn.
See, these people were satisfied even though maybe they didn’t have enough. Certainly by our standards today they wouldn’t have had enough. I mean heck it doesn’t say anything about them going home with a Styrofoam package. No, they passed food up and passed it along, so much so that the disciples gathered up the leftovers probably to take home and put in their ‘fridge for later. Those disciples!
Clearly I’m having a little fun with this scripture but our desire, our need, our pursuit of more to try to satisfy a voracious appetite isn’t all that funny. Here were thousands of people “dining” on five loaves and two fishes and still a bunch was left over? We just wouldn’t see that today. So if the hinge is satisfaction, then the stretch is changing how we look at “enough”.
Do we have enough food, enough stuff, enough money, enough cars, enough title or prominence in our career? Or are we satisfied? Furthermore, are we ready to pass some of what we have along to the next person? Are we ready to give? Satisfaction. Enough. These are things we full, rich people need to examine and lift our eyes upward and give thanks. And then pass along. May God bless you with that.
Where is God telling you to give? Do you think it’s because you have enough in that area? More than enough? If you’re willing, I would sure like to hear your thoughts below.
If you think someone else might benefit from this, please use the icons below to share it with them. If you would like to receive an email each week with links to that week’s posts, just click here.
To go back to the home page, click here.