Take a few deep breaths to center your heart and your mind as you prepare to meet with God.

Meditation

Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” There’s nothing in your life that God doesn’t already know about, and He loves you anyway. So relax. Take a moment to open your heart and mind to God, ask Him to shine a light on the things in your life that are offensive to Him, surrender yourself to His voice, and trust his loving care as He molds you.

Teaching

About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?” Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” “Seven loaves,” they replied. So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them. They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake. (Mark 8:1-13)

To me, the gospel is the good news that God wants a relationship with His creation. That includes the 4,000 people that Jesus fed and the Pharisees that Jesus walked off and left. Yep, it’s true, Jesus loved those Pharisees too.

There was a group of people who had been with Jesus for three days. Some of them might have needed healing, and He healed them. Some of them might have needed deliverance from demons, and He delivered them. Some of them came to hear His teaching, and He taught them. And then they needed food. They all needed food. And Jesus fed them. That was a LOT of people. Jesus fed them all. And they all ate as much as they wanted. Some of them might have eaten very little. Some of them might have eaten as much as they could get. But they were all welcome to take as much as they wanted. And after they had eaten all that they wanted, there were seven large baskets of leftovers. 

After Jesus and the disciples fed them, they got into a boat and went to a region called Dalmanutha. There, some Pharisees came to meet Jesus. You could say they were hungry too. More accurately, you could say they were like a pack of ravenous wolves. They came at Jesus demanding that He show them a miraculous sign to prove His divine authority. And the scripture says that Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit. It was a sigh of frustration and grief because Jesus knew that neither a miraculous sign nor His miraculous love could cause them to accept Him. The people that Jesus fed got all they wanted. The Pharisees got nothing.

But what do bread and leftovers and angry Pharisees have to do with relationships?

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Although that quote isn’t actually a part of this story, it could be. As Jesus faced those hungry people and the angry Pharisees, His heart was crying out to all of them, “Come to me. I have everything you need. I want to give it to you in abundance. I’m waiting for you. Come to me.”

Don’t be like the hard-hearted Pharisees who came daring Jesus to prove Himself. They were stuck in the old system of priests and sacrifices–”This is the way things work,” they said. “If you can’t–or won’t–work in our system, we won’t accept you!” Come to Jesus with a tender, longing heart and say, “I’m tired, and I’m hungry, and I can’t carry this load anymore. Help me.” Jesus is standing there with His arms full of bread. He offers you all that you want. Will you take it?

Examination

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purposes and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think, [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams,] according to His power that is at work within us.” Take a moment and consider how you can allow more of the superabundant power of God to work in and through your life.

Memory Verse

Every time you feel hungry today, remind yourself of how superabundantly God provides what we need by muttering Mark 8:8.

“They ate as much as they wanted.” (Mark 8:8a)

Would you like a deeper, closer relationship with God? You can have it. Go ahead, eat as much as you want!