"And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children."
Today's lesson relates the miracle of the loaves and fishes wherein Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fishes and fed five thousand souls.
This is a great lesson about Christian charity. Although Jesus' disciples had some small amount of compassion for the multitude, and had asked Jesus to send them away so that they might find food, they didn't even consider simply sharing what they had.
Much like the response would be from many today, regarding the needs of those around them, the first thoughts of the Apostles were to send the crowd away to fend for themselves. Jesus, out of a genuinely compassionate and generous heart, told His disciples to give away their own food, knowing, as His disciples should have also known, that God would inevitably provide ample food for everyone.
There are many so-called Christians today, who, for whatever reason, will attempt to justify their own greed and ignore the needs of those around them, by using the excuse that they only have enough for themselves. That lame excuse totally disregards the promise that if one gives of his/her own, out of Christian love and compassion, the gift will be returned to the giver many times over.
We are blessed to live in a country with enough wealth to feed the world ten times over, and have many, many baskets of food left over.~
We are blessed to live in a country with enough wealth to feed the world ten times over, and have many, many baskets of food left over.~
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