Mark 8:14-21 NLT
14 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. 15 As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” “Seven,” they said.
21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
Great teachers use great questions to teach their most important lessons. Jesus and the disciples had crossed the lake in a boat leaving hurriedly to escape the crowds. They arrived on the other side only to find more crowds. Concerned about practical things like food, the disciples lamented not remembering to bring any food for there in the wilderness. Jesus posed a metaphorical warning, citing the 'yeast of the Pharisees" --the pride that causes one to be so self-sufficient that he never realizes his need for God's daily routine intervention and provision. Jesus had to remind them of the miracles providing bread for the large groups in recent days.
God wants us to know that as we are yielded to His will in our daily living, we need not worry and fuss over provisions. We must seek it from Him and receive with joy what He gives. It will always be sufficient to our daily needs. We can rest in confidence when we trust God. We can rest in confidence when we obey God with decisions about our lives, including how we spend our resources. We can trust God when we are living aligned with His will instead of our own. And when we are resting in confident trust through our obedience to God then we can understand about life and provision for living more than ever before when we were doing it all on our own.
Do you understand that yet?
Your servant in Christ's love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com
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