As they say…the rest is history. Jesus blessed the fishes and everyone in the desert that day “…did eat, and were filled.” A wonderful story of God’s blessings and provision, but what I love most is the next portion of Matthew 14:20: “…and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” Maybe it’s trivial, but one question always comes to mind when I read this account. Where did the baskets come from? Keep in mind that, in a desert place, anything they carried would surely be a necessity. I would consider food the most common necessity to man…and yet the only amount of it found amongst such a great multitude was five loaves and two fishes. It seems strange to me that five thousand people (and many more were assumed to be present) would leave home without so much as a bag lunch. My family hardly makes it to church and back without a snack thrown in there somewhere! So, consider with me, and please offer any suggestions you may have about the following questions:
Ø Did someone bring an empty basket?
· Maybe they had nothing. “It shall even be as when an angry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty.” I know lots of people carrying around empty souls. Jesus can fill you!
· Maybe the world had emptied their baskets. “…for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.” Christian friend, be very careful of the emptiers! Always yielding to someone else’s demands (besides God’s) in your life is a sure way to look back with regret on a fruitless, joyless life.
· Maybe they emptied their baskets in the desert that day. I wonder if someone there looked at their basket of “things” and realized what little worth they possessed compared to bread blessed by the Son of God. I have so much to learn in this walk with my Savior, but one thing I have definitely found to be true is that there are things we will have to cast down to carry the blessing of God on our lives. We read in Genesis how Rebekah “…hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.” Doubtless, a life with Isaac was a pretty good return on her investment of a few pitchers of water! We all know that we must “…lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…” and cast “…down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,” but I suspect that many struggle (along with me) more with the command in 1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” I read somewhere once that time spent worrying is time spent saying, “God is not enough.” God help us. God help me.
I would be remised to side step the fact that God can also empty us. In Ruth 1:21, Naomi says “I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty.” Sometimes, God will empty us so He can give a much greater blessing. While the process is extremely painful, His good will ultimately far outweigh our bad!
· Maybe they came expecting a miracle. Could it be that the 2 Kings account of the widow came to their minds? 2 Kings 4:3 “Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.” Sometimes faith is the provision. I’m ashamed to say it, but this bread is the hardest for me to swallow. Sadly, in my times of little faith, even when His hand gives provision, my wandering heart is left feeling empty. On the contrary, I’ve looked back on the times of life when I felt fullest as almost always being the “leanest” times, materially speaking. How satisfying the substance of faith and how much more satisfying is the thought of my faith ending in sight! “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15
Continued
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