#DailyDevotion Jesus Is The LORD Who Provides For Us
Mark 8:4-9 4“Where could anyone get enough bread here in the wilderness to feed these?” His disciples asked Him. 5“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them. “Seven,” they answered. 6He ordered the people to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples to hand out, and they handed them to the people. 8They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and asked that these too be handed out. They ate and had enough. And they picked up the pieces that were left — seven baskets. 9There were about 4,000 people. Then He dismissed them.
How quickly do we forget all that the LORD our God, Jesus Christ has done for us. For the disciples here, it seems they are no different than us. It was only in chapter 6 of Mark Jesus had fed the 5,000 men, not including women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. Here there are only 4,000 men. Yet when Jesus tells his disciples, “They’ve been with Me three days now and have nothing to eat,” they respond with, “Where could anyone get enough bread here in the wilderness to feed these?” Seriously? And they have been witnessing Jesus work all these miracles to this point. In fact this is also after Jesus had sent them out and they had worked miracles to confirm the message of the kingdom. Yet they seem spiritually dense. Well, we generally aren’t to much better.
We and they are much like the Israelites. You might remember the LORD had delivered them from Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, ten plagues upon the Egyptians. After that, the LORD split the Red Sea, which they walk through on dry land, then he drowned the Egyptians who went after them. Yet they also seemed to forget all this when they needed water and they complained to Moses who gave them water. A little later after that, they complained about not having food then the LORD supplied them with manna for the next forty years (and then they complained about the manna).
Jesus in feeding these 4,000 men is teaching us something here. One, the LORD takes care of his people. Psalm 34 says, “10 Young lions may be in need and go hungry, but those who go to the LORD for help have every good thing.” So we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” If we are seeking the LORD will we lack any good thing? The LORD tells us no. Our LORD Jesus Christ promises to take care of us in Matthew 6, “33Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, too.” Jesus doesn’t lie and neither does His Father in heaven.
Which brings up a second thing. The same LORD that provided for Israel in the wilderness is the the same LORD here, Jesus Christ, who provided bread and fish first for the 5,000 and then again for the 4,000. And these are just the two reported times in the Gospels. There could have been more times he did this. In this feeding Jesus is telling us he is the LORD who provides for us and gives us all good things. He is telling us to turn to him for all good things and trust him. He will do it. He doesn’t promise you a Porsche or a Limousine in this life, a big house with a big yard and an unlimited supply of cash in your bank in this life. If we have food, clothing with godliness we should be content with that Paul tells us.
Heavenly Father, give us a remembrance of all you have done for us in Christ Jesus, the LORD, so we may not fret or worry about the necessities of life but trust as he took care of Israel and the people in the wilderness he will take care of us also. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.