Mark 8:1

Mark 8:1 says. In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, A crowd was following Him for three days with nothing to eat.  We often have a hard time getting people to come to church for an hour or two, even if they are well fed.  We need to desire to follow Jesus just as strongly. Verse two adds, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: Verse three continues, And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. We see that Jesus had compassion on them, fearing they would faint if they didn't get something to eat before He sent them away to their own houses, and He still has compassion on us today.  I believe we too often leave a worship service spiritually starving, and all the time Jesus waits ready to fill us. Verse four states, And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?  The disciples wondered where they could get food to feed the multitude in the desert, and if we are not living by faith instead of sight, we may often doubt that we can do what God calls us to do.  Verse five adds, And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.  Jesus asked the disciples how many loaves they had, and they said seven.  All we can do is to bring to Jesus what we have and then let Him use it as He sees fit.  We too often look at what we have and think what about me if I share it, but maybe we need to try to out give God.  Verse six says, And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. Jesus had the people sit, blessed the bread, and had the disciples pass it out to the people.  The disciples might have had doubts, but they did as Jesus instructed them to do, and so must we as Christians.  Verse seven adds, And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.  The disciples also had a few small fish, which Jesus blessed, and had the disciples pass out to the people.  Verse eight continues, So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.  The people were all filled and there were seven baskets of food left over.  They were unable to out give Jesus, and neither can we.  Had they refused to give up what they had, it would have soon been used up, but instead they ended up with so much more.  I believe we often end up with seven loaves and a few fish because we think we cannot give up what we have, instead of ending up with seven baskets full because we gave all we had to God.  Verse nine concludes, And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.  This time, there were about four thousand men who were fed, but the number was never important.  They would all have been fed regardless of the number.  Of course, in order to be a part of this miracle, the people had to be following Jesus, and so must we if we expect a miracle in our life.