Thursday the 12th

Matthew 14: ¹⁵As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."  ¹⁶Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

 

Can’t you hear the Holy Spirit saying that to you today? “They don’t need to leave, you need to feed them.” We live in a crazy world, it is fast paced, it is hectic, and it is demanding. All throughout the day we have people that come to us, and we brush them off, we send them on the way as quickly as possible, why? Because we just do not have what they want…..time. We have so much to do for ourselves, that we just don’t have the time to give to anyone else. Let them go get what they need on their own. However, today if we don’t give the people the time that they need, if we do not help feed their souls, they will go away hungry, and they might not find the sustenance that they need. They do not need to go away, we need to feed them. No, I can’t turn one fish into many, and I can’t make one hour last as long as two, but We can look at what is taking up out time, and cut out what is not needed. We can make the commitment to give more time to others than we take for ourselves. The whole story of Jesus feeding the masses starts off with someone giving what they thought would not be enough. It goes to show that with Christ in our life, our little bit, can be turned into more than enough, and did you notice that when we read about all being fed, they were satisfied, not gorged, not “full as a tick” they were satisfied.  I believe, and am convinced this is exactly where we lose so much time. We gorge on time for ourselves, as a result there is not anything for the person next to us. This is why we are so sure that what we have is not enough, and when we look in the basket we often find that we are right! We have to give what we have, but we have to only use what we need. Give the rest to the person next to you, they need that time….they need your time. Yes, I understand that you might think it might not be enough, give it anyway. Fifteen minutes of love, might be worth an hour to someone that does not have any in their life. Thirty minutes of compassion, might be worth an entire day to someone who feels isolated, and five minutes of forgiveness might just be enough for a lifetime to someone who is lost. They do not need to go away, we need to feed them. Center Christ in your life, you will find more time than you need, more love than you can give, more hope than you can dream, and enough forgiveness to fill the entire world. Feed the masses today, if we send them away, they might not return.

 

God Bless,

Brian