After Jesus had fed both the 5,000 and the 4,000 with only a few loaves and fish, the disciples got in a boat without enough bread for themselves.
When they began to discuss their plight, Jesus said, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand?" (Mark 8:17). What didn't they understand?
They did not understand the meaning of the leftovers, namely, that Jesus will take care of them when they take care of others. Jesus said:
"When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
Understand what? The leftovers.
The leftovers were for the servers. In fact the first time there were twelve servers and twelve basketfuls left over (Mark 6:43). The second time there seven basketfuls left over—the number of abundant completeness.
What didn't they understand? That Jesus would take care of them. You can't outgive Jesus. When you spend your life for others, your needs will be met.
"Were you a likely candidate for salvation? Yet didn't God save you? And while he may have used some human instrument, don't you see that he would have saved you with or without any instrument? And haven't you seen other 'impossible' brothers and sisters delivered likewise by the incredible power of the invisible God?
Do you realize from whence you came? You were in the grip of hell. Demons had wrapped their chains about you. The god of this world had blinded your understanding. Yet God struck off your chains and the face of Christ illumined your soul. The damned around you are no more damned than you were, their chains no thicker, their darkness no deeper. Nor is the power of Christ to save them one whit less."
John White, The Golden Cow, pages 151-152.
My wife and I ran a half marathon a couple of years ago. Among many things, it was extremely difficult. About half way through the race I became separated from most of the other runners and for about 7 miles I ran alone.
With every step the desire to quit and keel over became stronger and thought of sitting down sounded heavenly. But the thing that kept me going was thinking about the moment of crossing the finish line.
This same thought does great good for my faith.
We (human beings) are all headed to the same end. Death. After we die, we will stand before Jesus and we will give an account for the life we lived on earth and nothing gets me more excited than thinking of hearing "Well done good and faithful servant," from my Savior.Imagine this with me. All of our lives we live (hopefully) to worship Jesus and to please and honor him, then finally we see him face to face and he says "well done". Friends, there is nothing sweeter to live for!
I hope that it does the same for you and I hope we can spend eternity together enjoying God.
This is what I think of when life is difficult or when I feel pride creeping up or when I have a chance to share the gospel. This is the thought that carries me through and motivates me to stay humble, keep the faith, and finish well.
Everything was going according to plan, and then [when I was ] 15 my dad died from a heart attack in the ring. My whole life flipped upside down. I had to move to a small town. I had to watch my mother dive into full-blown alcoholism and sink into self-pity. But I gained strength from the lessons my dad taught me, and I stayed out of trouble, worked hard, and became the first person from my little school to graduate and get a football scholarship.
But then, in college, pride crept into my life, and I started doing things I wouldn't have done previously—having a beer with the boys, and then parties on the weekends—and that's a slippery slope. I quit going to church altogether. There was no longer a male role model in my life to convict me, and I drifted away from God. I didn't graduate from college, I didn't make it to the NFL, and my first marriage ended in divorce after six years. My oldest son is from that marriage.
I knew I had failed as a man. Afterward my wife came to me and said: "I don't have the strength to forgive you. But God is a God of restoration and not divorce. Because I want to be obedient to Him and for no other reason, I'm going to give you a chance you don't deserve."
