Matthew__14

Scripture

Matthew 14: 19

"And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the people."

 

Observation

 

Ironically, Jesus is seeking solitude after learning that his cousin John the Baptist is dead. There is met by people who long to just be with Him and hear Him speak and preach. Rather than turning them away He delights in their company and even feeds the “mere” five thousand people there. But before feeding them, He does one important thing: He gives thanks.

 

Understanding

In order to be effectively used by God to do His work, we must come before Him with a heart of humility and thanksgiving.

Over the many years of reading this story I always got hung up on the idea that Jesus fed five thousand people with a tiny amount of food, but this time something else stood out to me. It doesn’t just say “Jesus took the bread and the fish and miraculously gave it to everyone there” it emphasizes that Jesus gave thanks. The Son of the Most High gave thanks, even though He was God in the flesh. He didn’t thank Himself either, He humbled Himself, and looking to heaven lifted up gratitude and thanksgiving. He honors His Heavenly Father by giving Him all the glory, honor, and praise.

If I am to live a Christ-centered life, then I am to model Christ in all my actions. I constantly find myself saying: “I want to be used by God, I want to carry out His will,” yet I hype myself up when God uses me in His plan. Then I find myself once again in a “dry time” where I feel that God isn’t using me. I simply haven’t come before the Father with a heart of adoration and thanksgiving. Zechariah 4:6 sums it up perfectly:

“’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

We are not people of circumstance, nor are we people of divine power, we are a people living for a mighty God. A God who deserves all the praise imaginable. Jesus models to us how to be used by the Father. In order to truly be used, we must rid ourselves of any boast or brag. God is breaking us to promote us and place us to where we need to be, and it all begins with a heart of thanks and humility. Let’s face it, without Him we are nothing.

 

Life Application

If we are to be people of God, we must break this idea that self is at the center of everything. It’s time for a change of culture where we honor the one who created us no matter how big or small the miracle is. The miracle is the fact that we are alive and have the pleasure of living freely for the King!

-Allison Khan