It is also very true that Christ could have made baskets magically appear, but it seems if that were part of the story, it would have been recorded. It is also very clear in so many of Christ’s miracles, and even more in my personal life, that while God is certainly miraculous, He is also very practical. An example that comes to mind is the Ark of the Covenant, which contained several physical reminders of God’s miraculous works on behalf of the children of Israel and where the Holy Spirit of God rested between the cherubim on its surface and spoke to Moses. The Ark was a source of great blessing to the children of Israel, but it still had to be physically carried. God gives every bit of increase in our lives, but He still leaves the planting and watering up to us. “It is the same divine power, though exerted in an ordinary way, which multiplies the seed sown in the ground every year, and makes the earth yield her increase; so that what was brought out by handfuls, is brought home in sheaves. This is the Lord’s doing.”~Matthew Henry
Wherever the baskets came from, the fact remains that several people left this desert place carrying a basket of fragments. God’s Word doesn’t tell us who carried the twelve baskets away, but I suspect they were people who needed them. The word “fragments” brings to mind Ruth’s “handfuls of purpose”. Ruth accepted the handfuls of purpose because she needed them. How much we need every fragment of God’s blessing!
Can I share a bit of advice with you…from one basket case to another? Carry what matters. “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” 1Timothy 6:7 We all have desert places, but God can bring us out of them with our bellies full and baskets of fragments to remind us of the work He has done on our behalf and enough to spare for others we pass along the way.
Psalm 78:19 “…Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” God can.
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